Chemistry
by uNperfectXxXx
Summary: Blaine volunteers for an experiment which wants to prove that love is based on DNA. What he didn't expect though was to be partnered with three other guys in the process. He's straight after all. Isn't he? Eventual Klaine, Puck/Finn
1. Coming to meet you

**Hey guys :) This idea has been on my mind for a while now and I finally started writing it, yeyy :D Here's what's gonna go down in this story:  
><strong>**Blaine volunteers to take part in an experiment which wants to prove that love is based on DNA. What he didn't expect though was to be partnered with three other _guys_ in the process. He's straight after all. Isn't he? Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chemistry<strong>

**Ch.1 – Coming to meet you**

„So... you're really going through with this, huh Blaine?"

The curly haired boy stopped packing his suitcase to turn around and roll his eyes at his mother for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

"Yes, mom. We already talked about this. I know what I'm doing."

"Wouldn't bet on it", the woman leaning in the doorway mumbled under her breath before sighing loudly. "I just... I don't have a good feeling about this. Maybe you should cancel it, Blaine. They can't force you into a project like that after all, can they?"

He turned away, bending down to get six pairs of socks from the bottom of his dresser.

"Can they, Blaine?" The worry lacing his mother's voice also shone clearly in her eyes as she watched her son rummage through his various drawers, throwing the things he'd probably need for the next few months in the rough direction of his bed.

"Mom, I'm going there because I want to", Blaine finally answered softly, sounding convincing enough to calm his mother instantly. He made his way into the bathroom to get his toiletries, sidestepping the stuff that had somehow landed in a heap on the floor instead of in his suitcase, and smiled reassuringly at his mom. "Don't worry about it, okay?"

She sighed heavily again. "I know, I know. Every baby bird has to leave the nest at some point." He couldn't help but chuckle quietly at the cheesy comparison. "But you're still so young, Blaine, I..." Her eyes shone with sadness as she shook her head and returned his smile shakily after a few moments of collecting herself. "I'm being stupid, right? Well, I guess in the end worrying about those things is what mothers are for after all."

His gaze softened as he pulled her into his arms and hugged her close.

"I'll be fine, mom", he murmured as he deeply breathed in the comforting scent of her hair, savoring the small peaceful moment. "And just look at the good side. If the industry can prove what they want with the experiment they will finally be able to get into the efficient coupling and reproduction process." He pulled away to beam at her, an excited grin on his face. "Imagine how awesome it'd be if love was based on DNA! We will..."

"Yeah, yeah", she chuckled and rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm. "We will be able to prevent depressions, lower the suicide rate, cure psychological illness and accelerate the healing process in hospitals with help of the patients' soulmates that we can detect via a worldwide DNA data," she rattled off and gently pried her son's arms off her waist. "You already told me all of that. Like, fifty times a week."

He blushed lightly, but still raised his nose in the air in a superior manner. "Just wait and see. You won't belittle it anymore when they find _your_ soulmate somewhere in Spain or Russia."

Her face dropped for the fraction of a moment before she smiled brightly again and touched his cheek lovingly. "You're so adorable, Blaine. But you're also a dork. And I can say that because I'm your mother."

He shook his head exasperatedly and waved her off.

"Yeah, whatever."

Ignoring the amused glint that appeared in her eyes at his childish behavior Blaine finished packing up rather quickly, squishing everything together so it all fit in his one big suitcase. He didn't want to arrive at the airport with a mountain of luggage to carry around, thank you very much. After his suitcase snapped shut with a satisfying click he grabbed it with his right hand and hurried down the stairs, calling out over his shoulder. "I gotta get going now mom, my flight is in two hours!"

"Are you sure you packed everything, sweetheart?", she shouted from the top of the stairs.

"Yes, mother!" You could literally hear the eye-roll in his voice.

"Towels? Your toothbrush? Underwear?"

"Oh my _GOD!_ Yes, I packed everything!"

"Your mobile?"

"Of _course_ I-" He felt his right jeans pocket. "...wait."

Blaine turned around just to find his mom smiling smugly and extending her palm towards him, holding – of course – his mobile phone. He grinned at her gratefully as he took it and put it away safely in his pocket.

"Where in the world would I be without you?", he sighed dramatically and she giggled.

"Either hospital or prison, that's where", she stated with a wink and nudged him towards the door. "Now go. Knowing you you'll manage to get lost in the airport like six times in a row. If you don't hurry up you won't have time to still check in after that."

Blaine would be deeply offended right now if that statement weren't so true. He chuckled and put on his shoes and jacket, his mom waiting in the doorway and holding his suitcase for him.

Before he left the house he opened his arms and hugged her close to his heart one last time. She snaked her arms around his waist in turn and clutched his back in that special motherly way that always had Blaine thinking if he should remind her that his ribs were anything but unbreakable. But to his own surprise he found himself returning the gesture with just as much fervor today.

"I love you Blaine, please be safe."

"Of course. Love you, too."

He waved at her as long as he could from inside his car as he drove away towards the airport. A funny feeling that had somehow settled in his stomach when he left the house grew more and more prominent with every mile separating him from home. Now that he was alone, without the comfort of his mother's presence, the nerves were finally showing.

He didn't know what he should or could expect to happen in the program he was attending for the next months. In fact he wasn't even sure if he would actually be picked as a participant, it was dependent on his DNA after all. But he had read the purposes of the experiment at work and immediately signed up. It was for a good cause and if he could offer his services he would, no excuses. Except the questioning of his decision that started nagging him now that he actually was on his way...

Blaine shook his head slightly to clear the unpleasant thoughts from his mind.

_No turn back now, Anderson_, he thought determinedly. _You're going through with this, no matter what's about to come._

And with that he set his eyes firmly on the road again and concentrated on driving, quietly singing along to the radio.

"_I can't sleep, let's run away __and don't ever look back, don't ever look back._"

When Blaine arrived at the hall that the company had rented for the meeting of the participants he was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people who were already there. Men and women, old and young, businessmen and rather grungy looking people, seemingly from every single corner of the world. It had to be hundreds. He grabbed his suitcase a bit tighter in his hand, steeling himself before quickly making his way inside, avoiding a group of chatting men who obviously already knew each other. He sat down in one of the hundreds of chairs set up in several semi-circular rows around a big table. Now that he had a good view of the hall from the inside he couldn't help but be impressed with its sheer width. This place was fucking _huge!_ Blaine had no idea how many people had yet to arrive in here, but if the mass of chairs was any indication he reckoned that there would be at least one thousand in total.

In the next half hour the seats around him filled up quickly with people chatting away as they waited for the meeting to begin. Blaine caught short snippets of conversation here and there, but didn't bother actually participating in one. He was actually still pretty tired from his flight, so he closed his eyes and decided to just rest for a bit while he could.

"May I call the brigade to attention, please!"

_Well, that didn't last long._

Blaine looked up to see the tiny shape of the instructor standing on the table thing that seemed to be a makeshift stage, a stack of papers and a microphone in his hands. He held his nose up high in the air, a superior glint in his eyes as he let them wander over the crowd. Blaine decided on the spot that he didn't like this man at all.

"Dear Ladies and Gentlemen", he squeaked in a nasal voice. "I'm glad that so many of you decided to join in on our experiment. As all of you know the purpose of you being here is to find out whether love is based on the individual DNA of a human being or not. The proof that this assumption is correct would mean a revolution of a big part of our microbiology analysis that has the potential to improve our medical department drastically."

Polite applause followed his introduction. When it died down after a few seconds the instructor gestured to a guy standing behind the last row of chairs who nodded and switched on a slide projector.

"I will now inform you how this experiment is going to proceed."

The man pressed another button and the picture of several small houses lined up next to each other popped up on the wall. The instructor smiled at the audience and continued his speech.

"During the next three months we will separate you into groups of four. The constellation of these groups will be arranged by our medical cooperators, dependent on a few tests we will execute once I am finished with the instruction. Each group will live together in one of these houses" He pointed at the picture behind him. "which they can not leave unless they have a relevant reason like serious illness. The key to make this a successful experiment is that you, ladies and gentlemen, are not influenced by the outside environment, so we stay stern on that rule and bid everyone to obey it. In the three months you will spend together we want you to get to know each other as thoroughly as you can. If love really is based on DNA you will at some point show attraction to one of your roommates, your so called 'LIBN' which is the abbreviation for 'Love Interest By Nature'. We will sort two predicted LIBN-pairs into each group so one out of the three you will be living with is your complimentary partner. Your task is to find out which one it is. If the experiment ends in a positive result most of you will have found their LIBN at the end of these three months." He held up the stack of papers in his hand, casting a stern look at the crowd. "Once you signed this sheet you are committed to follow through with this experiment, no matter if you like our partner choice for you or not. Also, with your signature you give us permission to tape the development of your relationships on several cameras which we installed in the respective houses and agree that we are free to use the video material for studies and presentations. Please consider both of these points carefully for we will not accept belated objections. Are there any questions so far?"

Nobody raised his hand.

After a few seconds of silence the instructor clasped his hands together excitedly with a smug grin on his face. "Great. Then we will start our examination now. Ladies and Gentlemen, the first two rows follow me please."

He hopped off stage and waddled towards a door next to the table, the people in the first rows following him silently. Blaine leaned back in his chair and stretched his sore back. Sitting still for a long time always made him slightly weary and with at least eight hundred people in front of him also waiting for the examination he might as well take a small nap now. He had just closed his eyes when a tentative hand on his shoulder startled him.

"Hey!" A beautiful brunette girl around his age greeted him with a smile and pointed at the chair to his right. "Sorry to bug you, is that seat taken?"

He grinned widely back at her and shook his head. "Not at all, please sit."

She flashed him a grateful look as she plopped down and promptly took off her high heels. "Thank god!", she groaned when she had finally freed her sore feet from their confines. "My shoes are killing me."

He glanced down and raised an eyebrow, pointing at one of the shoes. "So that's what you call this? I could've sworn that thing is some sort of futuristic weapon."

She giggled and he smiled slightly, discretely letting his eyes wander over her slender frame in appreciation. That girl really was beautiful. If his LIBN looked anything like that he wouldn't regret joining this program at all.

"What's your name?", he asked, laying his hand on the arm rest between them, inconspicuously shuffling the tiniest bit closer.

"Kelly," she replied with a cute wink and lay her arm right next to his so that their shoulders were almost touching. Yeah, joining this program was actually the best idea Blaine ever had. He extended his arm in a kind of dorky way that didn't fail to make her smile.

"Pleasure", he said as she placed her hand in his and he kissed it gently, making her stifle yet another giggle. "My name's Blaine."

"Blaine, huh?" The playful glint in her eyes made her even more beautiful. "You know, when I signed up for this experiment I expected to find myself surrounded by ugly nerds, but now that I see you there is actually hope."

He laughed at the compliment. "Same here. Who knows, maybe we'll even get to spend the three months together."

"Maybe", she agreed and scooted closer, casually placing her arm against his.

In the following two hours Blaine was on cloud nine. Chatting with Kelly felt so natural that it was ridiculously obvious how much they fit together. She was smart, funny and – to top it all off – shared his insane love for music. He was sure that if love really was DNA based she would at least be in the same house with him, if not his actual LIBN. Blaine had never felt such an instant connection with anybody before. It just had to mean something.

When their group finally got called in for the tests he spontaneously grabbed her hand, relishing in the way she smiled at him and squeezed back. Sadly they had to separate at the entrance to the medical hallway, but not without the promise to meet again right after they were finished. Blaine walked over to the office of the doctor who had to test him with an excited bounce in his step, whistling some happy tune under his breath. Yep, right now life was pretty good.

The examinations lasted only a bit more than ten minutes, just a blood test and an overall check if his body was healthy. After he got his permission to join the experiment filled out he signed it and walked out the room to find Kelly already waiting for him with a soft smile on her face. They sat back in their former seats and were just getting into a heated conversation about Katy Perry's new album when the instructor got back on stage and cleared his throat, causing his audience to fall silent once again.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we just got the results of your compared DNA information from the medics and finished sorting you into the different houses. I will now read out the group constellations and ask you to come on stage one by one. In the first house: Kevin Henson." A small brunette boy stood up and swiftly walked over to the instructor, receiving a nod and a key. "Harry Devor." Another – much more muscular – man strode over with a confident look on his face, clapping the first guy on his shoulder in greeting. "Nichole Torsh." A blonde woman walked over to the two men tentatively, shyly waving at them. "And Vanessa Lopez." Lastly a Latina with ridiculously long legs completed the quartet, her hips swaying left and right like a metronome as she strutted over to them. The Harry guy eyed her with unmistakable lust.

Kelly leaned over the whisper in Blaine's ear. "Well, _I_ know who is going to have a fun three moths."

Blaine snorted and the pair broke down in giggles, looking up when the next names were announced. That was how it went on for quite a long time. The groups got their keys and walked down to the cars set up to drive them to their respective houses while Kelly and Blaine commented on who was probably gonna end up with who. The only change in their routine was when four women were called at once.

"I didn't know they were doing gay couples, too", Kelly wondered as she watched the four girls retreating. Blaine only shrugged.

"Well, it's natural I guess." But he diverted his gaze as they passed him by, somehow finding it inappropriate to look.

Now don't get him wrong, it wasn't like Blaine had a problem with gay couples or their display of affection or something like that. It was just that his father always talked big about how the divorce rate went up because of them or they were crowding the nightlife in his hometown and blah blah blah. Technically he knew that what his dad said was absolute bullshit, but he was still always a bit cautious when he saw a gay couple.

"House forty six", the instructor announced and Blaine looked up on the stage again. "Noah Puckerman."

A tan guy with a mohawk slowly rose from his seat, stretching his arms with a smirk on his face as he strutted over to the instructor like he owned the whole damn place. He took the key and looked down at the crowd, making bedroom eyes at a few girls in the front rows who started giggling and waving in response. Blaine rolled his eyes. Hopefully he wouldn't get paired up with-

"Blaine Anderson."

_Well, fuck_. Sighing deeply he smiled at Kelly one last time before he confidently walked over to the bad-ass who greeted him with a smirk and a fist bump that Blaine returned with a grin. Maybe he could just get acquainted to this and the next months wouldn't be so bad after all. He looked out into the mass of people staring back up at him, curious what kind of girls would stay with them in the house. He caught Kelly's eyes from the distance and waved at her, silently crossing his fingers. Please let it be her, please let it be her, please let it be-

"Finn Hudson."

_Wait, what?_

Blaine frowned deeply at the instructor. Since when was Finn an unisex name? He'd never heard of that before. Blaine furrowed his brow in confusion as he let his eyes wander over the crowd again, searching for the girl appendant to the name.

"Finn Hudson?", the instructor repeated when nobody stood up, a slightly annoyed undertone in his voice. "Hello? Finn Hudson?"

The crowd was silent for another moment and Blaine was just coming to the conclusion that this must be some sort of joke when suddenly a freakishly tall _guy_ stood up, confusion edged all over his face as he made his way towards the stage.

"What the hell?" Blaine heard the mohawk boy – was it Noah? – mutter next to him, voicing exactly his train of thought.

This had to be a mistake. Or another procedure of the experiment. But then again that made no sense, the instructor would have told them in the beginning. Surely they weren't meant to share a girl between the three, were they? Were Noah and Finn gay? He was just about to ask the instructor when the short man continued unfazedly with the fourth name, that stupidly smug grin from before prominent on his face again.

"And last but not least, Kurt Elisabeth Hummel."

**To Be Continued...**

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading this so far :) I don't know when I'll be able to update, but I hope pretty soon, so stay around! And leave me your opinion in a review please :) Love you!<strong>


	2. The Sharks and the Dolphin

**Oh. My. God. When I opened my e-mail file on the day after I posted the first chapter it was overflowing with 'Favorite's, 'Story Alert's and 'Author Alert's. Thank you so so so much for the great response I'm getting to this story! It really means a lot :) I hope I can keep up to your expectations and I'll try to update as soon as I can, but I can't promise anything... I hope you all enjoy this chapter! :)**

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><p><strong>Chemistry<strong>

**Ch.2 – The sharks and the dolphin**

"Kurt Elisabeth Hummel."

Blaine stared open-mouthedly at the instructor, not believing his ears. Okay, 'Finn' had made him stop short a little, but with 'Kurt' he was one hundred per cent sure that it most definitely was _not_ a girl's name. Which meant that the instructor _deliberately_ put him into a house full of boys. And _only_ boys! What the hell was wrong with him? He couldn't just prance around here and randomly hand sexual preferences out like lollipops! Blaine shook his head in incredulity when a pale boy with a very flamboyant red coat rose from his seat and strutted over to the stage. How the fuck did they expect him to find his LIBN out of three _guys?_ He wasn't even gay!

"Um... excuse me?", he asked, despite his anger still the ever dapper boy that he was, and waited patiently until the instructor turned towards him with a polite smile on his face.

"What's the matter, Mr Anderson?"

Blaine gestured between himself and the two other guys who were already on stage. "I'm sorry, but... this must be some sort of mistake."

The instructor wrinkled his nose in disaffirmation. "I am sure that we can trust our medical department with their decisions, thank you very much for your interest", he said curtly and was just about to turn away again when the mohawk guy strode over to them and loomed over the short man ominously.

"Hey, Frodo!", he barked, causing the instructor to startle and eye him with a frown. "Why am I in a house with three _dudes?_", mohawk asked with a pissed look on his face. "I'm not gay, man! I'm a stud! I'm just in this for the hot ladies action!"

"I already said it and I will say it again", the instructor sighed, just a hint of annoyance prominent in his voice, and tapped his papers repeatedly for emphasis as he spoke. "The results of your DNA consistence are not influenced by us. We determined your group constellations with newest technology that we have always relied on for several years now. In the whole twelve years of my career it never made one single mistake."

"But I'm straight!", Blaine shouted bemusedly, a hint of desperation lacing his voice now. "I won't find my LIBN in one of these guys, Sir. I can guarantee that!"

"Well, that's not what your DNA says", the instructor snapped, obviously fed up with this argument, and waved him off when Blaine tried to speak up again. "No further objections. Now if you'd excuse me, I don't have all day to sort the gr-"

"I am _not_ down with this", mohawk snarled and took a menacing step forward. The instructor adamantly didn't budge in the slightest, instead he just met the glare he was given with one of his own. He was just opening his mouth to reprimand the mohawk guy when suddenly the giant from earlier stepped forward next to Blaine.

"Yeah, me neither", he chimed in with an unmistakably irritated tone in his voice before the instructor got the chance to reply to mohawk. "I'm straight, dude. I don't want to hang around guys who stare at my butt all the time. It's not cool!"

"I am pretty sure that our experiment includes more than staring at each others' butts, Mr Hudson", the instructor deadpanned. "You should know that. You signed up for it after all."

"But I didn't know _then_ that you were going to turn us all into gays!", the tall guy shouted incredulously, trowing his hands in the air in exasperation. "Don't you think that if I really _was_ gay I'd know it by now? I'm eighteen, dammit! And all that time I never even _thought_ abo-"

"Wait a second", a quiet, high-pitched voice suddenly interrupted from behind them. The three guys turned around to see that the pale boy had finally reached them and looked tentatively between the other men, bewilderment clear in his eyes. "So... you guys are not gay?"

Mohawk just scoffed in response and turned back to the instructor, pointing almost accusingly at the pale boy. "Are you fucking kidding me? I can literally _smell_ the gay all over him! And I have to live with that fairy" Nobody noticed how the boy flinched at the insult. "together in one house for _three_ fucking _months_? No way, man, I'm out!"

"I am sorry, Mr Puckerman," the instructor said in a tone that clearly meant the opposite as he pushed up the glasses on his nose. "But you signed a valid contract saying that you would go through with the experiment, no matter who your partners are."

"This is bullshit!", Blaine shouted angrily, his brow furrowed. "You can't force us to go against our nature!"

"Oh but you won't, Mr Anderson", the instructor said calmly with one eyebrow raised. "When your DNA says you're gay, you're gay. It's in your blood."

"Then your tests were wrong", Blaine snapped, gesturing wildly. "Just test us again! I'm sure the results will be different."

"I highly doubt that", the instructor sighed. "Now if you would please just leave so we can-"

"I am _not_ living with a _fag!_", the tall boy shouted, startling everyone on stage with his sudden outburst.

A moment of silence followed that statement until a throat was cleared softly behind the four men. They turned around to see the pale boy standing there confidently with a hand on his hip, annoyance shining in his eyes and nose high in the air. But if they had looked close enough they would have seen that his hands were shaking where they rested on his suitcase.

"Gentlemen, if I may", he spoke up with that unusually high voice and straightened his back in a superior manner. "Now that everyone is giving their own reasons why they are repulsed by the idea of us four in one house I just want to say that I am also completely opposed to living under the same roof with three obviously offensive men and I demand to be sorted into an environment where I am not insulted because of my sexuality." He carded a single finger through his hair and waved a dismissive hand at his designed roommates when he continued. "I don't care if these guys here are straight or bi or closeted or whatever, but I will not approve of being harassed for three months or having to act as a guidance counselor because they can't figure out which gender they prefer, thank you very much."

The other men just stared at him, dumbstruck, until mohawk turned towards the instructor once more, chuckling humorlessly. "You can't be serious! I'm not living with... with _that!_" He pointed sharply at the pale man. "He's gayer than the Fourth of July!"

"Mr Puckerman, I must ask you to stop arguing", the instructor snapped in an annoyed tone. "You will all follow through with the project and that is it. Now please grab your key and go to your car, I still have a lot of work to do."

His tone left no doubt that this conversation was over. Muttering obscenities under his breath the mohawk guy swung his duffel bag over his shoulder with unnecessary force and strode over to the exit where their cab was waiting for them. The other three boys followed with equally unwilling looks on their faces, never even doing as much as glance at one another.

As they passed the chairs of the other participants Blaine caught the gaze of Kelly in the last row who looked at him with an unbelieving stare. He just shrugged fretfully in response and continued his path with a more and more pissed attitude, trying not to think about the next months.

This was going to be a fun ride.

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><p>"So... here we are, I guess", mohawk said lackadaisically as he turned off the ignition, speaking the first words between the four men ever since they left the hall.<p>

Blaine stretched slightly in the backseat before he quickly grabbed his belongings, all too eager to get out of the cramped space. The almost two-hour car ride had been awful. Since there really was nothing to say to make their situation any better nobody wanted to break the awkward tension between the four and eventually they all made the silent agreement to settle on uncomfortable silence that seemed to stretch on and on until Blaine seriously considered ripping his hair out of his head just to _do_ something. Ever since he could remember he had always been a very active person, sometimes to the point where most people would probably consider it compulsive, and being captured (because it sure felt like prison at that moment) in a tiny car with absolutely nothing to do was pure, unadulterated _torture!_ Mohawk hadn't even turned on the radio as a distraction and Blaine usually _always_ drove with music, but he hadn't dared to ask for it due to the awkward atmosphere around all of them. So it was understandable that he was more than relieved that they had finally, _finally_ arrived at their godforsaken house.

Slamming the door on the driver's seat shut mohawk strode around the car, looking at the meager landscape they were in with a grumpy expression on his face. His eyes lit up though as soon as they fell on the neat house in front of him that somehow didn't fit into the scanty scenery around it, looking like it was taken from a family friendly suburb area. He whistled loudly.

"Well, this is definitely nicer than what I'm used to", mohawk exclaimed grinning cheekily as he pulled out the keys from his pocket, eager to see what was inside.

"I don't think you'll find it so nice after seeing it for three months straight", Blaine grumbled as he unloaded his stuff, also examining their surroundings. He had to admit that this place looked pretty decent. That was if you could see past the stuff that would inevitably have to go down in there. He sighed heavily.

"Geez, don't act too excited, Anderson", mohawk said mockingly, rolling his eyes as he stalked over to the front door and opened it swiftly.

Scowling at the use of his last name, the shorter boy called after him. "My name is Blaine."

Mohawk just chuckled at the annoyed tone in his voice.

"Alright Blainers", he replied sarcastically, then shot him a mischievous smirk over his shoulder that the shorted boy soon found to be his signature look. "Call me Puck."

Blaine only nodded curtly in response before turning away and rolling his eyes. Puck, really? Where were they, in high school? Well, at least he wouldn't have to name him 'mohawk' in his thoughts anymore.

"Hey", the tall boy suddenly spoke up, claiming his attention. He walked up to him and extended the hand that wasn't holding his two giant bags. "I'm Finn."

Blaine shook his hand with a friendly smile on his face. "Blaine."

"Yeah, I got that." Finn returned the favor with a lop-sided smirk.

"Are you two done getting your mack on?", Puck shouted from the open door, leaning in the doorway with his arms crossed. The two boys immediately dropped each others' hands as if they were burnt, causing the bad-ass to smirk. He looked up and nodded curtly at the pale boy who was just getting out of the car, clutching several bags to his chest.

"And you, lady-face?"

The boy lifted his head with a first class bitch-look in his eyes, staying silent for another moment or two before replying coldly. "Kurt Hummel."

"Damn, what crawled up your ass and died?", Puck exclaimed as the boy made his way towards them, annoyance literally radiating from him. Blaine resisted the urge to slap his forehead at the wording. That boy's speech would be a lot to get used to. When Kurt finally reached them Puck stepped aside in a fake gentlemanly way and bowed mockingly while dramatically gesturing for the pale boy to step inside. "Ladies first!"

Without even bothering to respond to that Kurt simply entered with his mountain of luggage, the other boys following. Once inside Puck slapped a hand on the smaller boy's tense shoulders, causing him to flinch subtly.

"Seriously, loosen up a bit Hummel. You look like someone kicked your puppy."

Kurt just rolled his eyes at the poor comparison.

"Thanks for your concern, _Noah_, but I don't think that whatever 'crawled up my ass', as you so eloquently put it, is any of your business", he replied sassily as he brushed past the other boys into the corridor leading away from the room they were in now. Puck's eyes darkened as he quickly grabbed his arm, turning the pale boy back around.

"Nobody calls me Noah, Hummel", he said threateningly, the muscles in his upper arm twitching. Kurt just looked back at him with an almost weary expression, completely unimpressed.

"That's great. Then I just started a new tradition, yey me."

He turned around brusquely and walked into the first door on the right, slamming it shut behind him loudly.

Puck slowly shook his head at his other companions.

"Is that guy for real?", he asked incredulously, getting two shrugs in response.

"I guess we'll just have to put up with him", Finn sighed and groaned when he looked around. "Damn, this place is fucking puny!"

As soon as Blaine followed his line of vision he felt his stomach drop. Finn was right, this house was indeed really small for four persons. The room they were in now seemed to be some sort of entrance hall with an attached kitchen-slash-living room seeing as there was a couch with a table next to a kitchenette. On the right side was the passage to a small bathroom which – judging by what he could see from the outside – only contained a shower, a toilet and a sink. Opposite the couch was the small corridor in which Kurt disappeared earlier with two doors on each side, supposedly leading to their four bedrooms. At least the architects for this project had the decency to build them separated from each other.

Coming from a rich family and being used to much higher standards than this Blaine couldn't help but feel a little trapped. In such a small amount of space they were literally forced to live close together which supposedly was the whole point of this arrangement. Still, being squished in a house with three strangers who he didn't even know for two mere hours and nearly no privacy wasn't an experience Blaine was eager to make.

When Finn suddenly huffed irritatedly next to him he startled from his grumpy thoughts.

"I can't believe they expect four persons to fit into this tiny thing", the taller boy mumbled crossly, setting his bag down in the middle of the room. Puck stared at him incredulously.

"Are you kidding me?", he exclaimed with a furrowed brow. He spread his hands for emphasize as he strolled into the living room, already aiming for the couch. "Try the rooms in juvie, that's tiny! This place is bigger than _both_ my old apartments. Combined!"

Blaine's head whipped around to the bad-ass with wide eyes. "Whoa, wait a second mohawk! You were in juvie?"

Puck chuckled as he punched Blaine's shoulder just lightly enough to still be friendly. "Geez Anderson, don't shit your pants! As long as you stay outta my grill I won't use my guns on you."

Blaine raised both his eyebrows in mock interest. "Guns?"

Puck smirked and flexed his – admittedly impressive – muscles, kissing his right biceps. "Feeling the gay yet, Blainers?"

The curly haired boy just rolled his eyes in response before grabbing his suitcase and strolling over to the bedrooms. Since Kurt already claimed the first door he decided to simply go with the second room on the right side of the corridor. He pushed the door open just to find himself introduced to a rather depressing sight.

A bed. A nightstand. A chair. A dresser. That was all he had for the next few months.

Sighing heavily Blaine dropped his suitcase on the floor and unceremoniously plopped down onto his bed. For a few minutes he just lay there staring at the ceiling without actually seeing it, his thoughts drilling his mind with unanswered questions.

How was his mom holding up with him gone for the first time? Where was Kelly now? Why was he picked out for a _gay_ group of all things? How was he going to survive the next days, not to mention _months?_ Why had no one ever told Puck how stupid his mohawk made him look?

Blaine stood up quickly, grabbing his pillow and throwing it with all the strength he could muster against the wall opposite of him where it landed with a loud thud.

"Fuck this!", he shouted, face slightly red with anger. His temper rapidly deflated though when suddenly he remembered that he wasn't alone in this house. He opened the door, ready to apologize for his outburst, and peeked out into the living room where Finn and Puck still stood but saw them chatting uninterestedly with each other. They didn't seem to have heard him.

Blaine quietly retracted back to his room, confused. Why the hell would they want to soundproof these ro-... oh... _oh_...

He felt himself blush furiously when he realized in horror what the architects seemed to have expected to go down here. Blaine's eyes widened in sheer mortification when another thought crossed his mind. What if they still wanted them to even though... Oh fuck no, now there were images in his mind! Eww! Damn his pictorial imagination!

Blaine stormed out of his own and into one of the rooms on the left side of the corridor, ignoring the curious glances he got from Puck and Finn as he yelled at them over his shoulder.

"Tell me if you hear anything!"

He pulled the door shut, then started to shout wordlessly for a few seconds. As he stalked back out of the room he looked at the other boys expectantly. Finn nodded.

"Yeah, I heard you."

Blaine furrowed his brow absentmindedly, strolling back towards his own room.

"What the hell was that, man?", Puck asked in a confused tone. Blaine turned back around, blushing lightly underneath his tan.

"My, um... my room seems to be soundproof and I just wanted to check if yours was, too."

Puck furrowed his brow before his eyes widened as he seemed to come to the same conclusion as Blaine did a few minutes ago and he cracked up so hard that he had to bend over and clutch his aching stomach muscles.

"Wait, what's going on?", Finn shouted bemusedly over Puck's maniac laughter, a lost look on his face. Blaine eyed him incredulously. How could he not have caught on?

"Ooh, Finny-boy", Puck choked out between hearty laughs, wiping the tears from his eyes. "They want us to have big ol' gay sex, that's what's going on!" At the grossed out expression Finn made Puck's chuckled morphed into full-blown roars of hilarity again.

All of the sudden Kurt's door opened slightly, a pale head peeking out.

"Would you all mind? I'm trying to get some sleep!"

"So you can hear us from your room, too?", Blaine asked curiously, head cocked to the side in genuine interest.

Kurt huffed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, of course. It would be hard to _not_ overhear you, even if this room was also soundproof."

Blaine's brow furrowed. "You really heard all of what we said?"

"You weren't exactly quiet", Kurt grinned. "And I have sensitive ears." When Puck started barking with laughter again Kurt realized his poor choice of words and blushed a deep crimson, glaring at the bad-ass. "That's not what I meant!"

"Oh yeah, sure Kurtie", he chuckled and winked at him. "Sensitive ears, huh? Gotta keep that in mind." He turned to Blaine and shot him a cocky smirk. "Hey Blainers, would you mind borrowing us your room for tonight? I think I have some new knowledge to test out and I bet little Kurt here's a screamer."

"Good _night_, Noah", Kurt gritted out through his teeth before slamming his door shut again, his face still a furious shade of red.

"Night, princess", Puck called back cheekily before strolling into the second room on the left, shouting his good-nights at Finn and Blaine over his shoulder with a dismissive wave. "See you tomorrow losers!" And with that he closed his door loudly.

"Well, I think I'm gonna head to bed, too", Finn said after a few moments of silence, pointing at the first room on the left with a small smile.

"Yeah, me too", Blaine responded and turned around to go into his own room when the taller boy grabbed his arm.

"Wait", he said quickly and gestured to his door. "We haven't checked that one yet."

"Oh, yeah." Blaine nodded at Finn as the other boy went into his room and shut the door. It was silent for a second or two before the taller boy's head popped back out.

"Anything?"

Blaine shook his head no.

"Okay, then... good night I guess", Finn said and walked back inside, softly pulling his door shut.

Blaine spent his first night in the experiment lying awake until exhaustion finally overpowered his mind in the early morning hours and he drifted off into a restless slumber, dreaming about Kelly's smile.

**To Be Continued...**

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><p><strong>Well, that was chapter two, I hope you liked it :) Oh and just a side note, I don't think Puck looks stupid with his mohawk, it's just what Blaine thinks. Just thought I needed to point that out... Yeah, whatever. Next chapter will have some BlaineFinn friendship and hopefully also Kurt-Angst in it (if not in chapter 3, then in chapter 4), so yeah, stay around I guess ;) Leave me a review, I need opinions folks! Greetz and hugs - Ani**


	3. Building up a home

**Hey guys :D Thank you so much for all your reviews and stuff :) It's great to see that apparently this story seems good so far, I hope I can keep it up. Sorry that my updates are so irregular, it's just that I don't have that much time and then there's writer's block and other stories I work on... so yeah, I hope you forgive me if the waiting periods are a bit long. Now, here's chapter 3 for you :) Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chemistry<strong>

**Ch.3 – Building up a home**

When Blaine awoke the next morning he was starving. And not only starving, he literally felt like there was a freaking _hole_ where his stomach was supposed to be, growling for food. He sat up quickly and tried to rub the sleep from his eyes before looking around, scowling at the familiar and yet unfamiliar room. Great. So yesterday wasn't just a horrible nightmare.

Sighing heavily Blaine slumped back down onto the sheets and pulled a pillow over his head to muffle his loud groan of frustration. Staying under the covers all day sounded like a pretty good plan right now (even if it was just to shut the world and this stupid experiment out for a few hours), but eventually a literally painful rumble of his empty stomach forced him out of his warm bed. He heaved his body into an upright position and stayed seated for a minute, trying not to panic as his thoughts traveled to what this day might hold for him.

_Okay, Blaine_, he spurred himself on. _You can totally do this. Courage._

Feeling slightly better Blaine jumped up... and promptly stubbed his toe on the dresser. Cursing sharply under his breath he hobbled back over to his bed and massaged his aching foot with just a little too much force, making him let out yet another annoyed hiss. Perfect. There really was no better way to start the day.

He was just leaning forward to grab his contacts from the nightstand when suddenly there was a loud ripping noise behind him. He whipped around to see that the zipper of his jeans (which he was too lazy to swap for a pair of pajamas last night) had somehow gotten stuck on an edge of his sheets that now had a semi-large tear in them. Blaine huffed and let himself fall back on his bed in exasperation.

"Can it get any fucking worse?", he shouted grimly before deciding that he didn't really want to know the answer to that. Somehow he had a _subtle_ feeling that it _could_ and _would_ get worse throughout the day. After grumpily fumbling the sheets out of his zipper he rose from his bed for the second time this morning, now cautiously leaving a healthy distance between his limbs and what he just recently came to call 'the dresser from hell'.

Apart from the quiet pattering sounds of his feet the room was completely silent. Not that this was a surprise to him. In fact it was very likely that the other men were still asleep seeing as the sun hadn't even started to rise yet. Blaine on the other hand was used to waking up at ungodly hours in a dark and quiet house, unable to go back to sleep. A few years ago it had become normality.

His vertebrae made satisfying popping sounds as he stretched his back languidly and scuffled into the living room, a huge yawn escaping his lips. His still sleepy eyes stayed firmly glued to the wooden floor as he scuffled down the small corridor, the scowl from earlier again prominent on his face. If Blaine's expectancies of what this morning would bring were true, it would probably stay there for a long, long time.

He turned the corner to the living room and immediately perked up in surprise when he noticed the near heavenly smell already wafting from the kitchen. This was new. Usually he had to make and eat breakfast all by himself since his mother had to leave for work over two hours later than him and liked to sleep in on weekends since that was the only free time she had. But now that he listened more closely Blaine could hear the familiar clattering of frying pans against a stove. His brow furrowed in slight confusion. Who the hell – except for himself of course – would be up and awake at six thirty am on a _Saturday?_

Blaine turned the corner curiously and sure enough saw Kurt standing there at the kitchenette, whistling softly to himself as he turned some delicious smelling things over in several frying pans. Blaine leaned against the door frame with a smirk on his face and cleared his throat loudly to get the pale boy's attention.

It was almost funny how fast Kurt whipped around, his eyes blown wide in unadulterated shock and the spatula held out like a defense weapon in front of him. Blaine watched his initial reaction with an amused expression, barely holding in his chuckles as the pale boy looked around until his eyes settled on him again. A few seconds later, when Kurt noticed that it was only his housemate and not a burglar standing in the kitchen, he glared at the curly haired boy and clutched his heart dramatically.

"Geez, don't do that!", he snapped and turned back around to whatever he was cooking. Blaine decided to just ignore that statement as he stepped forward, eager to see what was for breakfast.

"Getting acquainted with the tools, are we?", he teased slightly and smiled when Kurt only scoffed dismissively in response.

"Oh please. I already met the biggest tool yesterday", he shot back and muttered just loud enough for Blaine to hear: "Damn you Noah Puckerman."

To his own surprise Blaine found himself laughing loudly at that – admittedly very witty – joke before stopping abruptly when he remembered where and most importantly with _who_ he was.

_He's gay_, the curly haired boy reminded himself. _You can't give him the wrong idea. Shit will hit the fan soon enough as it is, no need to add a weird crush to that._

Awkwardly clearing his throat Blaine stepped away from the counter, oh so subtly bringing some more distance between himself and the other boy. Kurt of course noticed the sudden change in Blaine's mood as well as the gesture (he went to public school after all, he knew what it looked like when people didn't want to be near him), but decided to not point it out. Instead he just focused on his cooking, not even trying to break the sudden tension between the pair.

_So just another judgmental asshole,_ Kurt thought with more resignation than frustration. _I thought I left that behind when I moved to New York._

When he felt Blaine's eyes on him again Kurt inaudibly took a deep, calming breath. He didn't want to let that guy get to him so much after everything he did to never feel like that again. But it was to no avail. Kurt closed his eyes tightly for a second, fruitlessly trying to will the feeling of numbness building up in his stomach away. It wasn't fair that it still hurt so much when someone was disgusted with him. After years and years of bullying he felt like he should be accomplished to the hate now. Untouchable. But then he guessed there were thing you just couldn't get used to. Not after what had happened...

Kurt shook his head, not wanting to finish that train of thought, and firmly grabbed the frying pan, mindlessly shoving the pieces of fruit from one side to the other in hope to distract himself from the lump forming in his throat.

Blaine on the other hand didn't even notice the change in the other boy's behavior, seeing as he was busy fiddling with his shirt and trying to come up with a valid reason to leave the kitchen without coming off as rude. When he found none he simply sighed and leaned back against the counter, watching the other boy out of the corner of his eye. He didn't know that Kurt's skin prickled uncomfortably under his gaze.

"So..." Blaine said after a few minutes in an attempt to make the pale boy start up a conversation, obviously feeling awkward in the lasting silence inhabiting the room. When he got no response whatsoever he tried again. "What're you making?"

"Oatmeal with fried bananas," Kurt answered quietly without looking up, turning over yet another fruit in his pan. "I hope that's okay."

"Oh... um, yeah, cool."

"Yeah."

"Can I... have some? I mean later? When you're finished?"

"That's the point in making it."

"Ah."

"Yeah."

"Okay, um... thanks."

"No problem."

And the silence again. When Blaine felt like ripping his hair out just to have something to do and Kurt still didn't say a thing he settled on starting lame smalltalk with the pale boy. "So... did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, fine, thanks."

"Good, yeah that's, um... good. How-"

He startled when Kurt suddenly looked up from his pans and turned towards him with an unreadable expression on his face. "Listen Blaine. I know you're just trying to be nice and all that, but if you're uncomfortable being around me you can just leave. I won't be mad."

Blaine blinked dumbly. How did Kurt know what he felt? The pale boy rolled his eyes.

"Oh please. You're not very subtle", Kurt said, reading his mind yet again with a small grin on his face. To Blaine's surprise he didn't sound mad or disappointed at all. Quite the contrary, his voice was confident and he looked Blaine directly in the eye.

The smaller boy breathed out a sigh of relief, not noticing how the blue eyes in front of him seemed to close off at the sound. If Kurt didn't mind he would just leave now. Conscience pure.

"Thanks man!", he chimed happily and skipped out into the corridor, calling quietly over his shoulder as to not wake Puck or Finn. "Just shout when you finished cooking, kay?"

At Kurt's nod he skipped into his room, unaware that with the sound of his door closing the first tear fell from those distant blue eyes onto the kitchen table.

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><p>"No, Noah! We'll wait until Finn wakes up, too", Kurt scolded and slapped Puck's hand as he once again reached around the pale boy and tried to sneak a piece of banana from the pan.<p>

"But I'm hungrrryyy", the mohawk boy whined and frowned seconds later when Kurt's words sunk in. "And don't call me Noah, dude!"

"Well, don't call me dude, 'dude'", Kurt retorted with an eye roll, grabbing both of Puck's wrists when he reached for the food again. "No!", he said with a stern look.

Puck groaned, but let his hands fall back to his sides. "Fiiine."

"You like to draw out words, don't you?", Kurt asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeeeees", Puck all but moaned and then leaned into the pale boy's personal space to breathe into his right ear. "Reminds me of sex, y'know?"

Kurt shoved him off indifferently and sighed "What else" before turning back to the stove.

Blaine interestedly watched their small banter from his spot in the doorway. How was Puck so comfortable with Kurt? It was stupid, but he actually felt kind of jealous that the mohawk boy seemingly didn't care at all about whether the pale boy was gay or not. But on the other hand Puck's behavior was dangerous. What if Kurt got the wrong signals and tried to flirt with Puck and they fought and... Blaine shook his head. Even if it _should_ end like that it was none of his business. Puck most definitely knew what he was doing, nothing to worry about.

"Hey, Blainers!" Speak of the devil. "Help me out here! Kurt's letting me starve to death!", the mohawk boy exclaimed and grabbed his throat, acting like he was suffocating.

The pale boy nudged his shoulder and rolled his eyes. "Geez, you're even more of a drama queen than I am", he said almost affectionately, purposely avoiding eye contact with Blaine who once again didn't notice his withdrawal at all.

"Well, I have to say I'm kind of hungry too", Blaine mused as he stepped closer and uncrossed his arms. Puck sharply pointed at Kurt in triumph.

"Ha! Now you have to let us eat!"

"No, I don't", Kurt said unfazedly. "But if you want to eat, go wake up Finn. I most certainly won't do it."

"Why?", Puck asked sneakily. "Don't want to get a boner around a half naked dude?"

The pale boy's glare would've made a stone shrink in on himself. "_Because_ I'm not that mean. One of you can wake him if you want. I'll let him sleep in."

"Sounds like someone's got a crush", Puck teased in a sing-song voice before actually breaking into song. "Love is in the aaaaa-" He got cut of mid-note by a piece of banana thrown in his face.

"I thought I left high-school behind last year, thank you very much", Kurt snapped sharply. "Now wake him or starve, your choice."

"You're mean", Puck pouted before making his way over to the corridor. He stopped abruptly next to the couch and turned back around. "Wait. I don't want to see Finn half-naked either."

"Tough luck", Kurt simply exclaimed without bothering to look up from the kitchen counter. Puck's gaze fell on Blaine and his whole face lit up with an idea.

"The hobbit can do it!"

"What?", Blaine asked, startled. "Why me?"

"Because with that hair you're at least half-gay already", Puck reasoned with a dead-serious expression.

"I'm not gay", Blaine growled and took a step towards Puck. Kurt's grip on the spatula tightened unbeknownst to the other two men. _Here we go again. _"I think you should do it.", Blaine continued. "You're already flirting with Hummel." Only the pale boy noticed how Blaine used his last name instead of his first. "Just switch your attention to Finn for a bit, will you?"

Puck raised an eyebrow. "Are you kidding me? If that couch had an ass I'd flirt with it too. I'm a stud!"

"And apparently bi-curious. Congratulations", Blaine shot back curtly.

Puck took a menacing step forward and snarled right in the other man's face. "Don't push me, Anderson."

"How about _you_ don't push _me_, Puckerman?", Blaine hissed quietly, hating that he had to tilt his head back to look the taller man properly in the eye. For a few seconds the tension between the two men seemed almost palpable, their dark eyes burning into each other with barely suppressed anger. Hidden in the kitchen Kurt held his breath, listening closely for any sounds of a beginning fight. This couldn't end well.

And then Puck started chuckling, a smug grin forming on his face.

"You got the fire in you, Blainers, I like that." He patted the smaller boy's shoulder before making a dismissive shooing gesture at Blaine. "And now go wake Finny-boy up. I'm hungry."

The smaller boy just stared at him incredulously. "Are you serious? I just said I won't do it!"

Puck shrugged, still not backing down in the slightest. Just as he opened his mouth for a retort he was cut off by a voice sounding sleepily from the corridor.

"What's going on here?"

The pair turned around to find Finn standing there, looking at Blaine and Puck's proximity in confusion. The mohawk boy took a step back, wiping imaginary sweat from his brow as he exaggeratedly let out a breath of relief.

"Oh, thank God!", he exclaimed loudly. "You're wearing a shirt!"

Now poor Finn looked completely lost. "Uh..."

Blaine chuckled at the taller boy's dumbstruck expression while Kurt poked his head into the room, rolling his eyes in that particular way of his. "Never mind them, the lack of food short-circuits their brains." Then he turned to look at the other two boys. "Speaking of food, breakfast is ready."

He hadn't even finished his sentence before Puck all but flew past Kurt to the kitchen table with a shout of triumph, the pale boy following while exasperatedly shaking his head.

Finn's whole face lit up at the mention of food. "You made breakfast, Kurt? Sweet!" He pumped his fist in the air and skipped over to take a seat next to Puck.

As Blaine also entered the room he suddenly realized that now he would inevitably have to sit next to Kurt. His stomach flipped nervously. Did Kurt want him to sit there? Would he have to make conversation? What the hell should he say? How could he-

"Damn, this smells fucking amazing!" The booming voice of Puck finally ripped Blaine from his train of thought and he noticed that he had been absentmindedly standing next to his chair just looking down on it for way too long. Blushing lightly under his tan he quickly sat down, his posture stiff. Finn cocked an eyebrow at him.

"What's wrong, dude?", he asked, the confusion from earlier still lacing his voice. "You look kinda sick. Do you need any-"

"No!", Blaine blurted out, realizing to late that this was probably the wrong reaction when Puck flashed him a suspicious look. He closed his eyes and took a calming breath before flashing the two guys in front of him his best reassuring smile. "No, I'm alright, thanks."

His composure vanished though when Kurt placed the loaded plates on the table, casting a scrutinizing glance at Blaine. The pale boy's brow furrowed in honest concern.

"Are you sure?", Kurt asked softly and it sent uncomfortable shivers down Blaine's spine. "You _do_ look a little pale..." He reached out with his right hand to check the smaller boy's brow for raised temperature, hoping that he wouldn't have a fever, but when Blaine noticed what he was planning to do he flinched away on instinct.

"Don't!", the curly haired boy said quietly but sharply, hazel eyes wide and fixed on the pale limb like it was going to eat him. Kurt's hand stopped mid-movement and for a second Blaine swore he could see a glimmer of hurt shining in those blue eyes before he blinked and pulled his arm back, mumbling "Sorry" under his breath. For some reason it made Blaine feel guilty.

The other two boys didn't seem to have noticed their little interaction. In fact they were too busy stuffing their faces with mountains of oatmeal like there was no tomorrow. Kurt wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Seriously guys? Have you ever heard of the word manners before?"

"Ffshuddupf pffanffy", Puck grunted, looking like a chipmunk but still managing to fit one more piece of banana inside his stuffed mouth as he grinned at him. "Ipff deliffopff."

"I didn't understand a word of that", Kurt said casually, delicately placing a single piece of banana in his mouth. "And if you eat like that you won't taste anything."

"What is this anyway?", Finn (who at least had the decency to swallow before he spoke) asked. "When my mom makes oatmeal it's different."

"That's because I left out the sugar and milk. It's healthier like this", Kurt reasoned and continued to eat until he felt the three pairs of eyes on him. "What?"

"Don't tell me you're one of those greenies", Puck stated bluntly. Kurt rolled his eyes (he seemed to do that a lot around the other boys).

"Treating your body healthily doesn't make you a greenie, Noah."

Puck frowned. "Damn it, don't call me that! And I expect my fair share of meat here."

"You can always make it yourself, you know?"

"I can't cook."

Kurt snorted. "Wow, didn't see that coming."

Puck's eyes narrowed at his sarcasm. "Don't be a bitch, Hummel."

The pale boy glared at him, obviously fed up with this argument. "I'm not your housemaid."

"Could've tricked me", Puck snorted in response, but didn't press any further. They continued their meal in silence until eventually Kurt sighed.

"Okay, fine. I'll make you something fatty every now and then. But_ DON'T _expect me to touch any of it!"

Puck cheered loudly and boxed Kurt's arm in what supposedly should resemble a friendly gesture. "Thanks, man!"

The pale boy rubbed the place where Puck hit him and shrugged sheepishly, a small smile on his face. "Can't have you whining all the time. It's exhausting."

Blaine watched their behavior with mixed feelings. This connection between the pair was becoming pretty suspicious. He usually wasn't one to make assumptions, but... Was Puck gay after all?

"Anderson!"

The curly boy's head snapped up. "Yeah?"

"What's up man? You've been staring at that table for minutes. Thinking about someone?" Puck sounded like a mix between amused and cocky.

"No!", Blaine replied automatically, shifting slightly in his seat. Puck's gaze moved to where his lower regions were hidden below the table and started grinning.

"Dude... are you sore?"

"What?", Blaine said, honestly confused. "No! Why do you ask?"

But Puck didn't answer. Instead his gaze kept shifting between Blaine and Kurt until his eyes suddenly widened and he started laughing loudly. "Holy shit!"

"What? What is it?", Blaine exclaimed, now irritated.

Puck tried to answer between the chuckles wracking his body, but started laughing even harder when he noticed the dumbstruck expressions staring back at him.

"What is this about, Noah?", Kurt demanded sharply, his eyes shooting daggers.

"You two fucked!", Puck blurted out, pointing at the two boys in front of him who recoiled at his words like they had been burned. "That's why you're acting so weird! Oh my God!" And then he started cracking up again.

Kurt and Blaine simultaneously turned to each other, then back to Puck and shouted in unison. "We did not!"

When Puck didn't stop laughing Blaine slammed his hand on the table angrily. "Stop it!"

"Oh my gosh", Puck gasped, slowly coming down from his hysterics, a lone chuckle still escaping him every now and then. "This is golden. So you really are gay, huh Blainers?"

That was the last straw.

"Shut the fuck up!", Blaine yelled and jumped out of his seat. "Just because Hummel is acting all gay on me doesn't mean I fuck him! Hell, I don't even _like_ him!"

They all stared at him, dumbstruck by his outburst. Blaine breathed heavily for a few seconds, strangely relieved that he got this off his chest for now though he didn't really know why. It was only when all of the sudden Kurt stood up and wordlessly left the room that he realized what _exactly_ he had just said. His chest tightened in guilt when the door quietly slid closed behind the pale boy. Well, fuck. He really needed a filter for his mouth.

"Shit, Anderson", Puck scolded. "That was a low blow."

"Yeah", Finn agreed with a frown. "I'm not saying that I'm down with this whole gay thing either, but that was really not cool, Blaine."

Said boy slumped back down into his seat, sighing in defeat. "I know. I didn't mean to say that."

"Dude." Puck leaned forward to look Blaine directly in the eye. "Let's be honest now, okay? Are you homophobic?"

The shorter boy looked up at him, offended that he would think so lowly of him. "Not at all! I'm an accepting person."

"Then why do you act like that?"

"I don't know", Blaine snapped automatically in an annoyed tone.

"So you _are_ homophobic", Puck mused aloud, nodding to himself. "That kind of-"

"He makes me uncomfortable, okay?", Blaine blurted out, gesturing wildly. "I don't know why, but... he just does." He averted his eyes from Puck's scrutinizing gaze, thrumming his fingers against his arm in an irregular rhythm. "There, I said it. Can we leave it at that now?"

"Fine", Puck relented with a sigh. "But you should still apologize."

Blaine shot him a bewildered look. "Since when are you my voice of reason?"

Puck grinned and winked. "There are _so_ many things you don't know about me, Anderson."

"Yeah, yeah", the other waved it off and rose from his seat.

"Now where exactly do you think you're going?"

Blaine raised an eyebrow at him. "To apologize?"

Puck shook his head. "No. He's probably still upset. Let him come around."

The shorter boy shrugged and slumped back into his seat, propping his head up on one hand as he listened to the other two boys starting up mindless conversation. Involuntarily his gaze drifted over to the closed door of Kurt's room and he let out a silent groan.

Yep, this day could only get worse after that.

**To Be Continued...**

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><p><strong>Sorry again for the long wait. I hope this chapter wasn't too disappointing... It just wouldn't let itself be written! Seriously, I swear I rewrote the beginning ten times before it was kind of satisfying. But what're you gonna do? Well, I'll tell you what YOU'RE gonna do: Leave me a review! :D Haha that was so sad... Whatever. Love you all, see you next chapter! (hopefully a little sooner this time...)<strong>


	4. Beautiful mess

**Hey guys... Sorry for the long wait. Again. I don't purposely take this long to write the chapters, I swear! I just... yeah, never have the time I guess. And when I HAVE time I have absolutely no inspiration. I swear, this story is the hardest thing I've ever written! Usually the plot just comes to me and somehow writes itself, but this one... just doesn't. I don't know why, I'm sorry :( Well, anyway... Chapter four people! Thanks for all your reviews, they always make my day :D I hope I didn't let you wait for _too_ long and you don't hate me already... The song in the beginning is "A Quiet Night At Home" from Bare: A Pop Opera. Don't know it? WATCH IT! But before you do that, please enjoy the chapter :) Love you!**

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><p><strong>Chemistry<strong>

**Ch.4 – Beautiful mess**

"_A quiet night at home, silent night. A joy to pass a quiet night at home. A quiet night at home, all my friends are gone. And once again I find myself alone. A quiet night a-"_

A loud knock on the door startled Kurt from his dark thoughts and quiet singing. He groaned and turned over onto his stomach, closing his eyes. Talking to anybody was the last thing on his mind right now, thank you very much and please don't try again later. Much to Kurt's dismay whoever was at the door apparently thought otherwise.

'Knock, knock, knock, knock'

_Wow, someone's persistent,_ Kurt thought grumpily. _Well, two can play at this game._ He pulled his pillow over his head, fully intending to ignore the outside-world forever.

'Knock, knock... knock... _knockknocknknockknockknock_'

The pale boy gritted his teeth, holding his hands over his ears. Why the fuck couldn't _his_ room be soundproof? It would make this much easier.

'Knock, knock, knock' _It's not getting to me, it's not getting to me..._ 'Knock, knock' _Nope, not getting to me at all..._ 'KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!'

"_OKAY,_ _WHAT? WHAT IS IT?_", Kurt finally yelled in frustration, flinging his pillow onto the floor in the process.

"It's me. Can I come in?"

The pale boy perked up in surprise at the familiar voice before his eyes narrowed suspiciously, turning to the door. "What do you want?"

He could hear an exasperated sigh from outside. "Just let me in, okay?"

Kurt reluctantly rose from his warm bed and strolled over to the door to let Puck in. The mohawked boy casually moved past Kurt and immediately plopped down on his bed, stretching his limbs all over the place.

"Daaamn", he sighed contently and let the joints in his fingers pop loudly, making Kurt wrinkle his nose in disgust. He hated when people did that. "Your bed's soooo comfy. I demand that you let me sleep here tonight."

"I believe you have enough space in your own room, Noah," the pale boy deadpanned and crossed his arms over his chest.

The disgruntled groan he got in response somehow made Kurt's lips twitch into a small smile.

"Just call me Puck, goddammit!", the taller boy growled half-heartedly, glaring at Kurt through his oh-so-manly spread knees. "P-U-C-K. It can't be that hard if even I can spell that." He snuggled deeper into the pillows, giving a hum of appreciation at how soft they were. "And no, my own bed's stupid. It creaks every time I turn over. Just imagine me masturbating in a creaking bed, it's fucking annoying!"

Kurt took a step closer, not even trying to acknowledge Puck's crude comments anymore. "So you wanted to talk to me?"

"No."

Kurt raised an eyebrow in surprise. "No?"

"Nope", Puck repeated as he lifted his body up to look directly at the other boy. "I want you to talk to Blaine."

Kurt just huffed in response, pointedly turning away from his housemate.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys anyway?", Puck asked and sat up, honestly interested in the pale boy's answer. "It's been two days, just get over it!"

"I _won't_ just get over it", Kurt gritted out through his teeth, clenching his hands into fists. "Can you please leave now? I have important stuff to do."

Puck just rolled his eyes and plopped back on the bed with a heavy thump. "You're acting like a chick, Hummel."

"So what?", Kurt snapped in irritation, throwing his arms up angrily. "I _am_ lady-face after all, aren't I?"

"Stop it", Puck groaned and rubbed his face. "I hate sarcasm. Especially from you."

"Deal with it."

"Okay, look." Puck held up his hands defensively. "I don't want to be in this situation right now any more than you do, but I'm honestly trying to help you out here." Kurt looked away at that, raising Puck's suspicion that something was really wrong. "Why don't you just tell me what's bothering you?"

Kurt seemed to be pondering this for a few seconds before apparently coming to a conclusion as he raised his nose haughtily. "It's complicated." Then he pointed at the door, still not making eye-contact with the other boy. "Now leave. Please."

"This isn't just about his comment, is it?", Puck asked seriously, ignoring Kurt's obvious dismissal. "I mean, I insult you all the time and you're not mad at _me_, are you?"

Kurt snorted. "Very observant, Sherlock."

"You still haven't answered my question."

The pale boy frowned and opened his mouth as if he wanted to give a witty retort, but closed it again, the inner conflict he was having obvious on his face. Puck waited patiently for a response until after a minute or so Kurt sighed in defeat.

"What does it matter anyway?", he asked, finally looking up at Puck with some strange sort of resignation in his eyes. "He doesn't like me and I don't really like him. End of story."

Puck's brow furrowed. The pale boy was hiding something and he didn't like it. At all.

"What about me?", he pressed on. "I'm not exactly nice to you either and you still talk to me."

His question was greeted with silence.

"Kurt?"

The pale boy hung his head low and grumbled out a few words, too inarticulate to understand for Puck.

"What was that?"

"I said... I said it's because I know you don't mean it", Kurt mumbled just a tad louder this time, intensely staring at his feet. "He meant every word he said. I could see it."

Puck sighed and clapped his hands together. "Okay, I see I have no choice. Let's do this." He pulled a slightly perplexed Kurt over to him and sat him down on the chair opposite of the bed. Then he put his right hand under his own chin as if in thought before leaning forward, studying Kurt's face. "I'll start with the easy questions. Do you hate him?"

The pale boy scoffed and Puck could practically see the defense walls slamming up around him. "Oh please, what is this? Couples therapy?"

"Come on, I'm sure it'll help."

"Thanks, but I have to decline your offer politely."

"Kurt-"

"No."

"Just try t-"

"_No!_"

"Okay, you know what? Fine." Puck suddenly rose and glared at Kurt. "Fuck this. You don't want me here, I'll go." He took two long strides to the door, yanking it open before turning back around to eye the pale boy with an angry expression. "But don't expect any more help from me."

And with that he left the room, slamming the door loudly and storming into the living room. For a long time Kurt just stared at the spot where Puck sat only seconds ago, feeling guilty and wondering why the hell he ever thought joining the experiment would be a good idea. He didn't even realize that he had started singing under his breath again until he got to the last – his favorite – part of the song.

"_Ships and princes all gone home. Alone again, again alone. A quiet night at home with thoughts of why. A quiet night at home spent getting by..."_

* * *

><p>Finn had never been pegged for the sensitive type of guy. By anyone. Ever. Not even by his own mother. He was seen more as a kind of dense giant who walked around the world carefree and not very observant whenever something important was going on around him. Now don't get me wrong, it wasn't that people thought he was stupid – well, not <em>all<em> people at least – but everyone knew he was sort of... how can you say it... _perceptibly limited_ when it came to feelings. Not to say _absolutely oblivious_, but yeah, you get the drift.

Finn himself wasn't bothered by everyone thinking that. In fact he was first to admit that he had pretty much no idea what was going on when it came to emotions unless they bit him in the ass. And sometimes not even then. His mother always said that he was exactly like his father in that department which somehow made it seem less bad. Kind of.

Over the years his awareness – or lack thereof – had somehow become a measurement of some sorts for the depth of emotions. Like, when even _he_ could pick up that a situation was awkward, then it had to be – and these are Finn's words, not mine – "like, super awkward or something".

The last few days were the best example.

Right now Puck, Finn and Blaine sat in the living room together, watching mindless TV shows (the only real luxury that they were granted here) and noshing chocolate chip cookies that they found in one of the kitchen shelves. Outside it was raining like the end of the world was near, massive gallons of water smacking against the window and thunder repeatedly roaring in the distance. In a weird way Finn was glad for the storm because it made the silence between the three boys less obvious.

Ever since Blaine's word vomit at the dinner table things had been really tense around the house. The curly haired boy had somewhat cut off the contact with the other boys, just sitting around reading one of the books he brought with him or humming songs to himself in his room. Finn guessed it was because he didn't want to talk about Kurt and much less _to_ Kurt, so that left Puck and Finn trying to kill the time with stupid things like TV or arm-wrestling. The mohawked boy was actually a pretty cool dude when he wasn't an asshole. Not that Blaine wasn't nice too, but his reluctance to clear the air was making him kind of annoying to Finn. Even after two days it still didn't look like the shorter boy was going to apologize any time soon which meant more silence and awkwardness for everyone. Hurray.

Finn sighed and nestled further into the couch, grabbing another cookie. His mother would kill him if she knew how much fat and sugar he was scoffing here, not to mention what Kurt would do, but Finn hadn't seen the pale boy for a while now anyway since he never left his room nowadays. Only very early in the morning and late in the evening when the others were asleep.

Oh, that reminded him...

"Puck?", he whisper-yelled over another roar of thunder and scooted a little closer to said boy when he looked at him questioningly. "Did you talk to Kurt yet?"

Puck frowned and turned back to the TV screen, but answered anyway just loud enough for him to hear. "Yes."

Finn waited a few seconds for the other boy to elaborate, but when he just kept watching the episode of House the taller boy whispered impatiently. "Well?"

Puck looked back at him, looking askance. "What?"

Finn rolled his eyes. "What did he say, dumbass?"

The mohawked boy narrowed his eyes at the – admittedly not very impressive – insult before he sighed in annoyance. "He doesn't want to talk to Blaine. Happy now?"

Finn frowned when Puck seemed to dismiss the whole thing without second thought. There had to be more, right? "Why doesn't he?"

The other boy just shrugged impassively. "Too hurt or something, I dunno. He looked pretty upset."

Finn sighed and plopped back down on the couch heavily. He had always thought Rachel was the number one drama queen, but Kurt definitely gave her competition. "I hate this."

"Yeah, me too. If Anderson just got his act together I could at least finally have a decent breakfast again. Your scrambled eggs taste like shit."

"Gee, thanks", Finn murmured, not even that much offended by Puck's statement because, well, it was true. "I guess we'll just have to give him some time, huh? He'll come around."

Puck diverted his gaze. "I'm not so sure about tha-" He trailed off when he suddenly more sensed than heard a someone step up behind him.

"_You_ cooked in the last few days, Finn? For _real?_ Okay, I guess that explains why the kitchen always looked like World War Two went down there in the evening," Kurt teased lightly as he gracefully sat down on the couch and made himself comfortable, ignoring the dumbfounded looks the boys around him wore. He furrowed his brow though when he noticed the cookies in all the three boys' hands. "And what on earth are you eating? Do you know how much sugar this stuff contains? You will all have diabetes at the age of thirty, mark my words!"

When Puck, Finn and Blaine just stared at the pale boy as if he was a ghost Kurt rolled his eyes and snatched the treats out of their hands, getting up from his seat on the couch. "Enough already. If you're so hungry I'll just make you a fruit salad instead. It's much healthier. Trust me, you'll thank me in twenty years."

And with that Kurt made his way into the kitchen, leaving three confused as hell boys behind.

"What was _that?_", Finn asked after a few seconds, his hand still outstretched the way it had been before the pale boy took his cookie.

Blaine just shook his head in response, even more perplexed than the others due to the way Kurt had looked at him as if nothing had happened between them at all. Was that a peace offering? Did _he_ want to make things right?

Blaine immediately dismissed that thought. Somehow he couldn't believe that the pale boy would forgive him that easily after he locked himself in his room for _days_, but... maybe he did. With someone like Kurt you had to expect the unexpected after all, right?

It didn't seem like the proper way to end their conflict, but Blaine most certainly wasn't going to complain about everything going back to normal. If anything he'd be more than grateful once he could pass Kurt's door again without the guilt nagging at him every time he did.

Puck on the other hand...

"I'll go check on him", the mohawked boy mumbled to Finn and rose from the couch, following the pale boy into the kitchen. Puck spotted him kneeling on the floor, searching for something in their small fridge when he entered the kitchen.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Kurt looked up from his crouched down position to see Puck leaning casually against the door frame as he watched him rummage through the small amount of fruit they had left. The pale boy raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Cooking? You know, that thing where you mash food together randomly to make it taste good?"

"I can see that", Puck snapped and crossed his arms in annoyance. "I mean, why are you here and not in your room?"

Kurt stood up and put the ingredients for his fruit salad on the counter. "I'm sorry, but last time I checked I had just as much right to be in our kitchen as you all do", he replied indifferently as he started chopping up apples. "And unless they changed the rules I still do, so..." He looked up at Puck, his slightly narrowed eyes giving the mohawked boy the impression that he already knew exactly where this was going. "What's your problem?"

"What's _my_ problem? What's _your_ problem!", Puck exclaimed incredulously and stepped closer to Kurt, raising his arms indignantly. "So all of the sudden you can just talk to Blaine again? What the hell! I thought you were mad!"

"Oh, I'm still mad", the pale boy replied casually and nudged Puck out of the way to grab a bowl from next to the sink. "I just think that it's no use to mope around anymore when he _obviously_ won't apologize anyway. I've had enough time to think about it in the last days and I've come to the conclusion that I _won't_ let yet another homophobic guy bring me down. I'm better than that."

"Yeah, I guess", Puck nodded absentmindedly until something that Kurt had said made him do a double-take. "Wait... _another_ guy? You mean there's been one before?"

The pale boy stiffened immediately as if he just noticed that he had said something he shouldn't have. Before Puck could really make sense of that the pale boy relaxed again and chuckled bitterly, not turning around when he finally answered. "I'm a gay guy from Ohio, Noah. What did you expect people to do? Lift their rainbow flags and sing Kumbaya?"

"Name's Puck", the mohawked guy mumbled reflexively, his thoughts wandering as he processed this new information. "So... you get harassed where you live?", he wondered aloud after quite some time.

Kurt managed to maintain his calm stance even though his insides were already churning with mild panic at Puck's intrusions. He had never told anyone – not even his dad or his closest friends – about just how bad his 'problem' had been before he moved to New York. About the late night phone calls. The snapping voices from across the street. The disgusted looks of his neighbors.

About _Him._

Kurt swallowed heavily. He wanted so badly to just let it all out for once, to tell someone, even if it was just an obnoxious douche-bag that he knew for all but three days. He wanted to... Almost needed to...

_Victim,_ his inner voice snarled at him. _You're acting like a victim. Maybe _he_ was right after all. Maybe what happened really IS your fault because YOU just can't stand up for yourself. Sissy._

"Kurt?"

He couldn't.

Kurt turned around to glare at the taller boy. "Listen, Noah", he hissed in a low voice, one finger raised to point sharply at Puck. "This is _kind of_ a touchy subject for me which means I will absolutely _not_ talk to you about it, okay? Forget I ever said anything." He turned back around and chopped up the pears with unnecessary force, a conflicted look on his face.

"Is it bad?"

Kurt stopped short in his movements, startled by the caring softness in Puck's voice. He turned his head instinctively and was met with a look of such raw concern that he could practically feel his defense walls quivering around him, threatening to crumble.

But he wasn't a performer for nothing.

Kurt chuckled softly, sounding earnestly amused even to his own ears. "No", he said with a smile that didn't look forced at all. Yep, he was good. "Just weird looks and the occasional name-calling. It's fine. I just like to moan, that's all." _Haha, I wish._

Puck seemed satisfied enough with his answer to notice what he was doing – namely being nice – and get his confident smirk back into place. "Well, I could think of another situation where you'd _love_ to moan", he stated cockily and waggled his eyebrows.

For a brief moment Kurt was almost sad that the opportunity of confiding in someone passed so quickly, but then he scolded himself internally.

_You're not a charity-case, Kurt. Stop acting like one!_

The pale boy snorted. "Yeah, of course. As if I'd ever give you the time of the day."

Puck chuckled and nudged his shoulder in such a simple, friendly way that it startled Kurt even though the other probably didn't notice it. "Sure, princess. Just wait and see, you'll come begging for it in a few days. If there's one thing that's still true in this world it's that everyone wants a ride on the Puckasaurus. Mark my words."

Kurt couldn't help but smile at how full of himself Puck was. "We'll see about that." He finished up his fruit salad with a few pistachios on top, grabbed four bowls and spoons and made his way over into the living room again. "So, who wants some healthy food that will not give you cavities?"

Puck rolled his eyes as he followed him. "Oh, just dish it out, Hummel. God knows we need some real food after Finn's so called 'soup' yesterday." As he took his share of salad he leaned closer to Kurt to stage-whisper in the shorter boy's ear. "I still think he put sugar instead of salt in it. He's stupid like that."

"Hey!" Finn's indignant reply was sort of muffled by the bananas he had already stuffed into his mouth.

"Actually you put sugar in a lot of soups", Kurt replied offhandedly as he filled his own bowl, not noticing the other boys exchanging weird looks. "Also in gravy. It makes everything taste a little rounder."

"Dude", Finn exclaimed, his nose wrinkled in disgust. "That's gross! That would be like putting salt into pie!"

"You can do that, too." At the incredulous looks he received Kurt sighed exasperatedly. "Seriously, guys. Where were you raised? Quixotic Mom-does-everything-for-me town?"

"Well, maybe_ I_ actually have important, useful stuff to do", Puck retorted as he dug into his food. "I don't have the time to stand with mommy in the kitchen like some of us obviously do."

"My mom died when I was eight", Kurt said softly before turning to Blaine. "Don't you want some? I fixed you a bowl too."

The shorter boy looked up in surprise before giving a hesitant smile in response. "Sure, thanks. And, um, sorry about your mom...", he added awkwardly, but Kurt shrugged it off,

"You're very welcome. And no worries, it was a long time ago", he said kindly as he passed the bowl before addressing the whole group with a stern gaze. "But I think it would be good for you if you all tried cooking for once. Some day you'll have to take care of yourself and that won't work if your abilities only go as far as popping popcorn in a microwave. Besides it's hardly-"

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa! _Hold up princess", Puck interrupted with a raised hand before the pale boy could continue his lecture. "I don't cook, dude. I'm a stud."

Kurt eyed him quizzically. "And how on earth does _that_ make any sense?"

The mohawked boy shrugged and went back to eating his fruit. "I don't have to know how to cook. I'll have a chick to do that for me."

Blaine snorted. "Poor girl. She'll be out the door in five seconds."

"No one breaks things off with guys like me", Puck replied confidently. "She'll grovel at my feet until I kick her out."

"Oh please." Blaine grinned to take the sting out of his words. "Trust me, Puckerman. The only chick you're ever gonna get for good is your mom."

When the other three boys chuckled Blaine felt like a huge weight was dropped off his chest. Somehow it was only now that he felt accepted in their group again after the last days. Also he was kind of proud that he had made Kurt – of all people – laugh at his joke. As if on cue his gaze found the pale boy's and he gladly returned the smile that he was given.

_Things may not be hunky-dory yet,_ he thought to himself as he watched Kurt laugh and hit Puck playfully for something he had said. _But we're getting there._

**To Be Continued...**

* * *

><p><strong>Oh. My. God. Seriously? This took me forever to write. I didn't even notice it's been over a month since the last chapter up until now... Sorry again :( I just hope it was worth the wait after all... Review? :)<strong>


	5. Oh normalcy, you fade so fast

**Hellaauu :) I'm happy today, you know why? Because I just finished a _hell_ of a week. No, let me rephrase that, the _mother_ of all hells of weeks: four exams, musical rehearsal every day til ten in the evening and sleeping problems to top it off. And now I'm done and it feels fucking amazing! :D Okay, so... I hope you enjoy this chapter. I honestly tried to update faster, but every time something got in the way, so... sorry. I'd promise that I'll improve, but I can't, so I'll just promise that I'll try. I hope you forgive me and aren't too disappointed by this chapter... It has a _major_ turning point of the story in it, so you might want to start reading now ;D Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chemistry<strong>

**Ch.5 – Oh normalcy, you fade so fast**

You know what the funny thing about boredom is? It never lasts. Life is too busy and hectic for downtime, not to mention the disposition of people to always aspire to keep everything moving. I don't know about you, but I always get an itch in my fingers to do _something_ whenever I sit still for too long. It makes me feel uncomfortable, like my brain just isn't made to be unused. It's like an addiction: Learn. Improve. Create.

Blaine had this realization at a very young age. To be specific at the age of three. His kooky big brother Cooper had decided that it would be fun to start a game called 'Blainey-trainee' in which Blaine – when he wasn't busy with anything else – had to do everything Coop wanted. It had come as far as him bringing Cooper breakfast to the bed at three o'clock at the morning, swaying on his feet from the exhaustion of not getting any rest throughout his days, before his mom found out and stopped the game. After he had watched as Cooper got grounded (which in itself had always been a very satisfactory moment) Blaine had gone straight to his room, lain himself down in his bed, stared at the ceiling and done nothing. Absolutely nothing. And it had felt so great that he had stayed like that all day long until his mother called him down for lunch. This was actually the very first memory he had.

Since then Blaine had learned to cherish boredom whenever he could. Things could take drastic turns, your whole life could change in the matter of a heartbeat and you never knew what might be coming next, so those little moments of peace were something precious and rare and – in his opinion – should be treated as such.

Right now he was lying on his bed, his iPod next to him playing some song that he wasn't really listening to, and did nothing, just like when he was a child. It was comforting, something he always did after stress or drama. And, come on, when would he ever deserve a break if not after these last few days? So far the experiment had been like his personal hell, so this actually was a really nice break from it al-

"Hey, Anderson!"

..._had been_ a nice break from it all.

Blaine sighed and begrudgingly unplugged the headphones from his ears when his door suddenly burst open because _of course_ life just _had to_ crush his private time every chance it could. Typical. "What?"

"Did you take my toothbrush?"

Frowning in confusion Blaine turned over so he could look up at Puck from where he lay on the bed. "What on earth makes you think that I would take your toothbrush?"

The mohawked boy stared down on him accusingly. "You're totally someone who always takes what he wants and I've seen you ogle my toothbrush after dinner, hence, you took it", he stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, crossing his arms with a haughty I Got You All Figured Out expression. "Duh."

Rubbing his temples to soothe the headache he already felt coming Blaine tried to make sense of Puck's reasoning before giving up and just shaking his head in disbelief. "That was the single worst explanation I have ever heard. And I was a math tutor in public school." He rolled his eyes at the other boy's indignant huff. "Besides, I wasn't looking at your _toothbrush_, I was looking at your _hands_."

The taller boy snorted. "Yeah right. And then you still claim that you're straight." When he noticed Blaine's unamused glare he raised his hands in mock defeat. "Okay, okay. Then _why_ were you looking at my hands if I may ask, oh your curly highness?"

"You play guitar, don't you", Blaine stated bluntly. Apparently that caught Puck off guard since he didn't retort immediately but let the shorter boy continue. "I'm not stupid. I know what it looks like."

Puck rolled his eyes and scoffed. "How would you know?"

When Blaine silently showed his own calloused fingertips to Puck the mohawked boy's eyes widened ever so slightly. "No way. You play too?"

Blaine nodded. "I miss her. Courage that is. It's what I named my guitar."

Puck cocked his head to the side. "Why?"

Blaine's immediate reaction was to brush it off as nothing, but something in his guts told him to tell Puck the truth. They had to get to know each other better after all. "It's kind of a sad story."

"Those are the best", Puck grinned and motioned for him to continue. "Do tell, hobbit."

Blaine gave him a small smile in return before he visibly sobered as he started talking. "Courage was my first guitar. I got her from my dad on my twelfth birthday when he still lived with me and my mom." He couldn't help but feel slightly bitter when he thought back to that time. "Buying her is the best thing he's ever done for me", he stopped shortly to rethink his statement. "Well, no. Actually it's the _only_ thing he's ever done for me." Blaine chuckled humorlessly. "He was an asshole."

Puck nodded, silently encouraging the other boy to elaborate.

"One day he was at home long before I got there, waiting for me. He was drunk off his ass, even more so that usual and that really says a lot because he was a severe alcoholic. Anyway, he asked why I was late and I told him I was at my friend's house. He got pretty mad and started yelling that I should 'stop fucking disgrace him with my fucking flings behind his back'. He even pushed me around and shit. Usually he didn't get violent when he had his... um... 'moments', but when my mom tried to calm him down he beat the living crap out of us." Blaine lowered his gaze as the memories came back to him. It still hurt to think about that day. "After that he went off to somewhere, I don't know where and I don't really care. I never saw him again." Blaine absentmindedly started fiddling with his shirt where he knew the scar that he had from the beer bottle his father threw at him was covered by the fabric, still not looking Puck directly in the eye. "I know I should probably hate Courage now, but somehow I don't. She's kind of a reminder that even if times are hard they get better, you know?"

Puck nodded again, his brow furrowed and eyes blank. "Yeah... yeah, I know what you mean."

Judging by his stiff posture there was probably more to that sentence than the mohawked boy let on, but Blaine knew better than to dig at it. With guys like Puck that just didn't seem like a good idea. "So", he changed the subject nonchalantly. "Did _you_ name your guitar?"

Puck started grinning, clearly much more comfortable in this area. "Yeah. My baby's Quinn."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "Some girl I knocked up in high-school. Kept bitching at me for it." The ever-present smug smirk made its way back on his face where it belonged. "With Quinny I can strum away sexual frustration. Not that I really need to, there's always some bitch waiting for Puckzilla to rock her world." He flexed his right biceps exaggeratedly and winked at the shorter boy who only rolled his eyes at the gesture.

"Of course", Blaine replied offhandedly, surprising himself by not getting flustered by the comment anymore. He wondered when exactly he had gotten used to Puck's crudeness.

"Wanna see her?"

That snapped his attention back to the boy himself. "What? Who?"

"The Hogwarts candy lady", Puck replied with an eye roll. "Quinn of course, you dumbass."

"Wait... you brought her with you?", Blaine asked incredulously.

"Damn right I did. Wouldn't go nowhere without my ax", Puck said casually and moved over to the door, not waiting for Blaine to clamber out of his bed and follow him. "I brought my case on the first day. Didn't you see it?"

Blaine shook his head no. He, indeed, hadn't noticed. But then he guessed that was forgivable, looking back on the events of their first day here.

Puck strolled through the corridor to his own room, carelessly letting the door swing back as he opened it so that Blaine had to catch it before it hit him in the face, and crouched down next to his bed to pull out a black guitar case from underneath it.

"C'mere baby", he grunted as he opened it and pulled out an equally black guitar, a satisfied grin forming on his face as he held it out to the other boy. "There she is."

Blaine stepped closer to take a look, his jaw dropping six feet under the earth as soon as the guitar properly came into view. "A _Gibson?_ Are you fucking kidding me?" He knelt down next to Puck and marveled at the instrument in awe. The mohawked boy smirked at Blaine's awestruck expression.

"Damn right, Frodo. And a real one too, not one of those shitty copies they sell in China."

Blaine knew he probably looked absolutely stupid, staring at Puck as if he was a god, but honestly he couldn't care less right now. "Holy shit. How could you afford this?"

Puck shrugged nonchalantly. "Four years of savings, dude. I worked my butt off for this babe", he answered, slowly running his thumb over the strings. "She's worth more than my whole apartment."

Blaine whistled reverently. "Wow. I'm so jealous right now."

Puck nodded with unharbored pride. "Yeah, people tend to say that."

"Can I...", the curly haired boy trailed off, gesturing at the guitar. Puck nodded and handed it over, but not before fixing Blaine with a hard gaze.

"If you hurt her I kill you, clear?"

The shorter boy saluted in mock obedience before sitting on the bed with the guitar on his lap. He briefly checked if it was tuned (it was, perfectly) and then began to play the intro of one of what he liked to call his 'warm-up songs'. His fingers ran over the strings with practiced ease, the familiar sensation of metal against skin filling him with some strange sort of calmness. God, it had been way too long since he'd played the guitar like this. And the _sound_ of this one...

"Damn", he sighed in admiration after only a couple of tabs. "Dude, I'd kill for this guitar. It's fucking awesome!"

Puck mumbled his agreement as he tapped a beat with both hands against his thighs to accompany Blaine's picking. "Truth. She's worth her prize."

Blaine nodded and quickly lost himself in the music again, slowly bobbing his head to the melody. He startled in surprise when Puck suddenly started to sing along quietly but confidently to his jamming.

"_So close, no matter how far. Couldn't be much more from the heart. Forever trusting who we are. And nothing else matters."_

Blaine was sure that he was positively gaping by now. From all the things he would have pegged Puck for, he _never_ would have guessed that he could _sing._ And that well, too! His fingers kept moving over the strings on their own volition as he listened intently to Puck's surprisingly ardent performance.

"_Never opened myself this way. Life is ours, we live it our way. All these words I don't just say. And nothing else matters."_

Blaine joined in on the next verse, earning a first surprised then amused sideways glance from Puck. He probably hadn't thought of Blaine as an artist either. Their voices blended impressively well together in the harmonies, a rough edge to it that fit the song perfectly.

"_Trust I seek and I find in you. Every day for us something new. Open mind for a different view. And nothing else matters."_

Blaine started strumming away on the guitar in earnest now, marveling once again at the fantastic sound of Puck's Gibson. Playing on these strings felt amazing, like being a real rockstar for once instead of a small-town guy who lived off playing in bars and cafes. All the while Blaine belted out the strong, high notes of the chorus with ease, earning an impressed gaze from his duet partner as they wrapped up their spontaneous performance.

"_Never cared for what they do. Never cared for what they know. But I know..."_

He let the guitar fade out with a few more tabs, a pleased smile finding its way on his face in the short silence that followed. "That was pretty amazing."

Puck nodded, grinning smugly. "Told you, Quinny's the best."

"I was talking about out singing", Blaine corrected the mohawked boy. "We sound good together."

Puck shrugged. "I guess. I don't really sing."

Blaine gave him an incredulous look. "Are you serious? You're a great singer!"

He was surprised when the mohawked boy smiled – _really smiled_ – at that. "Yeah, I know. You're not too bad either. Didn't know you had that in you."

"Thanks", Blaine said, also smiling now. They stayed like that for a few moments, a comfortable silence settling between them as Blaine started picking random chords again, softly humming harmonies to it under his breath. This jamming right now had put him more at ease than anything after the last few days. Funnily enough this was also the first time ever since the four boys met that Puck's presence didn't feel intrusive or annoying to him.

It was actually... kind of nice.

Blaine looked up from where his fingers wandered over Puck's guitar when he heard the other boy chuckling suddenly. "What?"

"Katy Perry? Seriously?", Puck asked with laughter in his voice, pointing at his guitar. Blaine only shrugged defiantly in response.

"What? I like this song."

Puck shook his head. "It's cheesy and whored out on every radio station I know."

"It's not that bad."

The mohawked boy didn't even try to stifle his snort at Blaine's defensive tone. "Of course. I should have known. You would be a top forties kind of guy, wouldn't you?"

"Well, what music do _you_ like?", Blaine asked over Puck's snickers, not-so-subtly trying to change the subject. "Let me guess... Punk. Or metal? No, wait, I know it: Deathcore."

"Nah dude." Puck waved him off. "I roll with the good ol' classics. The Stones, Queen, Kiss... That stuff."

Blaine nodded and spontaneously started picking the opening piano melody of 'Beth' by the latter band. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed Puck eying him strangely. "What? Just because I like Katy doesn't mean I don't appreciate good music when I hear it."

"No, it's not that. I just..." Puck trailed off and his gaze hardened as he diverted his gaze. "Never mind."

Blaine stopped his strumming, now curious. "What?"

"What?", Puck mocked him defensively.

"What's the matter with that song?"

"Nothing."

"Dude, you can tell me-"

He broke off mid-sentence, snapping his mouth shut when the mohawked boy snarled at him. "None of your fucking business, Anderson."

_Aaand we're back to last name basis_, Blaine sighed in his thoughts as he raised his hands in defense. "Okay, fine. I'll leave you alone."

"Good", Puck said threateningly and leaned back against the bed, closing his eyes with a deep breath. Blaine watched him silently for a few minutes, waiting if the other boy might still offer some sort of explanation for his behavior, but was obviously ignored.

"What're you staring at?", Puck mumbled irritatedly without opening his eyes which caused Blaine to startle from his trance.

"I just... How did you know I was looking at you?"

The mohawked boy smirked. "You're playing 'Whataya Want From Me'."

Blaine stopped his strumming and blushed slightly when he noticed that Puck was right. "Oh."

The other boy just laughed. "First Katy, now Lambert. Man, you're abusing my poor guitar. Enough oft that." He turned to Blaine and held out his hands expectantly.

The curly haired boy raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Puck rolled his eyes impatiently. "Give her back, dumbass."

"How about 'please'?", Blaine retorted, pulling the guitar closer to his chest.

"How about a fist to the stomach?"

Blaine sighed exasperatedly. "I swear, I've never seen someone with worse manners than you."

"Yeah, I do take pride in that", the mohawked boy replied offhandedly and extended his hand again. "Guitar. Now."

Blaine opened his mouth for a defiant retort, but was saved from his answer by the door slamming open loudly. He rolled his eyes. _Seriously, can't people in this house open a door like every other human being?_

"Guys", Finn hollered from where he poked his head into the room. "Hurry up. Kurt says lunch is read- Oh my _god!_" His eyes went as wide as saucers when he noticed the guitar in Blaine's hands. "Dude!"

"I know", Puck said smugly, his chest puffed out so far in pride that it was almost comical. "Pretty awesome, huh?"

"Is that yours?", Finn asked, looking at Blaine who shook his head no.

"Mine", Puck confirmed when Finn's gaze traveled over to him. "Name's Quinn. She's my everything."

"Dude, that sounded, like, so gay," the taller boy snorted as he plopped down next to Blaine to look at the guitar, still shaking his head in incredulity. "Fucking amazing. Are Gibsons really as good as everyone says?"

"Better," Puck nodded.

Finn turned to Blaine. "Play something."

The curly haired boy huffed. "Well, I _was_, but jerkface over there just _had to_ interrupt me." He pointed an accusing finger at Puck who gave him a look in return.

"Katy Perry dude. Katy Perry. I'm not gonna sit by and let you chew my ear off with that shit."

Finn couldn't help but snort at that. "Really, Blaine?"

"What? She's cool", the shorter boy pouted.

"Oh please." Puck rolled his eyes. "Top forties is _not _cool."

"It can be", Blaine replied indignantly.

"Yeah?" Puck suddenly eyed him with a challenging look. "Prove it."

Blaine's eyes narrowed slightly. "Oh, I will", he said with a confident smirk and started strumming. He was going to teach those bastards what it meant to challenge one Blaine freaking Anderson.

_They won't know what hit them._

* * *

><p>Kurt turned around to the corridor for the fourth time in the last three minutes, a frown crinkling his brow. What on earth was taking Finn so long? It wasn't like he had to take a trip to freaking nirvana to get Puck and Blaine. He put the pan filled with fried rice down on the table, his eyes straying over to the closed door of Puck's room once more.<p>

"Guys, lunch", he called out, hoping that the mention of food would be enough to get their asses out there, but no response.

Sighing heavily he trudged over to the room, grumbling "Have to do everything yourself to get it done" to no one in particular before pulling the door open soundlessly just as he heard Blaine saying "Oh, I will."

Kurt was about to open his mouth to scold them for letting their food get cold, but snapped it shut again when he noticed the guitar in Blaine's hands, currently playing the intro of some song that sounded kind of familiar. A question already started forming on his lips, but before he could voice it Blaine started singing and Kurt was left speechless.

"_You think I'm pretty without any make-up on, you think I'm funny when I tell the punch line wrong. I know you get me, so I let my walls come down. Down."_

Okay, so maybe Blaine was a homophobic douche with no tact whatsoever, but damn, that boy had the _voice!_ Kurt felt paralyzed as he looked at the smaller boy whose eyes were closed tenderly in devotion, emotion pouring into every word he sang.

"_Before you met me I was alright, but things were kinda heavy. You brought me to life..."_

The fine hair on Kurt's neck stood on end as Blaine's voice slipped easily into the higher note, his eyes scrunched up in the most adorable way. The pale boy was transfixed by Blaine's numerous soulful expressions as he sang, simply because his brain seemed to have forgotten how to turn his eyes away. He noted how the smaller boy's brow furrowed and relaxed, how his mouth moved around the words as if they were liquid chocolate, how he let the smallest of smiles slip onto his face when he hit the last note perfectly. Kurt suddenly found himself thinking back to the very first thought that had come to his mind when he saw Blaine getting on the stage before all hell broke loose.

Damn, that boy is gorgeous_._

That thought had never been more true than now when Blaine's face was stripped bare and revealed a depth of his soul that Kurt had never witnessed before. It was touching really.

"_Now every February you'll be my valentine, valentine. Let's go all the way tonight. No regrets, just love."_

Kurt's heart gave a strange twang at that word, though he didn't know why.

"_We can dance until we die, you and I will be young forever."_

And okay, he could've sworn that he felt the vibrations of Blaine's voice deep down in his stomach as it slipped higher towards the end, goosebumps erupting all over his skin. Kurt lay a hand on his belly as if that way he could find out what this fluttery feeling inside him was. What the hell just happened?

"_You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream, the way you turn me on."_

Was it just him or had the temperature in the room just turned up a few notches? Kurt blushed when Blaine suddenly opened his eyes, liquid honey and so full of... _something_. The pale boy couldn't really place it, he just knew that it triggered... _something_ inside him. Something strange. Thankfully Blaine didn't seem to notice him from where he sat. It probably would've been awkward if he'd seen Kurt just standing there, wide-eyed and jaw on the floor.

"_I can't sleep, let's run away and don't ever look back, don't ever look back."_

Kurt's hands were literally shaking now, his eyes still fixed on Blaine's. He felt as if it would physically hurt him to look away at that moment. He just... Blaine was just so _beautiful_ when he sang. How had he never noticed before?

"_My heart stops when you look at me, just one touch now baby I believe this is real, let's take a chance and don't ever look back."_

A smile slowly stretched on Kurt's face, his usually cold-blue eyes melting into soft puddles of affection. He could literally feel his heart beating against his chest in a fast pattern, loud and strong and so, so alive. His nerves were strung tight in the most delicious of ways, a tingly sense of sweet anticipation in the air. He hadn't felt like this for a very long time.

"_Don't ever look- I'mma get your heart racing in your skin-tight jeans, be your teenage dream tonight."_

Wait... actually he hadn't felt like this ever since... Kurt looked up into Blaine's eyes again and gasped when suddenly he recognized the feeling as... _Oh fuck no no no no_.

His eyes widened dramatically, a hand coming up to clutch at his chest where his heart was still beating irregularly, now for an entirely different reason.

"_Let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans, be your teenage dream tonight."_

Kurt barely noticed that Blaine had finished his song, too caught up in the force of reality crashing down on him until there was loud clapping and whooping from his right.

"Nice one!"

"You go, hobbit!"

Kurt whipped around with wide eyes, shocked out of his stupor. Holy hell, had Puck and Finn been there all the time? He hadn't even noticed. They still didn't seem to see him where he sagged in the doorway, every bone in his body feeling as if it weighed tons.

"Okay, so I guess you win", Puck said, getting up to clap Blaine on his shoulder. "Top forties is kind of alright."

Blaine scoffed and Finn smirked mischievously as he leaned forward with a glint in his eyes. "Who'd you sing that to?"

The curly haired boy grinned, causing Kurt's stomach to swirl at how sweet he looked like this... "Well, you know, there was this girl at the check-in hall..."

_Boom_. It felt like a gunshot fired off in Kurt's head. His breath caught in his throat as he choked on air, a sick feeling settling in the pit of his stomach.

vagina. Equals _straight_.

It happened again.

Without waiting for Blaine to elaborate any further Kurt stumbled out of the room, closing the door quietly. He made all but two shaky steps towards the kitchen before his knees buckled and he slid down the wall and clutched his head in his hands, staring into nothingness with the image of Blaine's eyes – god, his eyes – still imprinted as clearly as daylight in his mind, his epiphany making his heart tear and head scream.

_Fuck._

* * *

><p><strong>Uh-oh... things are going to get hard for poor Kurtie :( But at least we can finally see the beginning of what's going to happen. Don't worry, we still have a looong way to go before we get there, so stick around ;) Thanks for reading! Review?<strong>


	6. Revelations

**Hey guys! Sorry again for not updating sooner... I'm starting to sound like a broken record, I'm sorry. But hey, I was a _little_ faster this time! I tried to concentrate more on this story, but in the last time I've had so many ideas for other fanfics which means at least fifteen unfinished, half-planned-out storylines and bits and pieces of stories everywhere and I kind of neglected this one :( But now I finally finished this chapter (it took me goddamn _forever_ to write this -.-), so... here it is! This one is kind of important for the further development of a certain friend-slash-companionship, so watch out for that ;) Thanks to all of those who wrote me a review or decided to stick with this story even though the updates are so irregular. Thank you, thank you, thank you! And now, after this long ramble, enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chemistry<strong>

**Ch.6 – Revelations**

"I'm telling you. Fried mushrooms and mozzarella. It's like an orgasm in your mouth," Puck exclaimed with a dramatic gesture of his arms, the other boys following him into the kitchen.

"No way, dude!", Blaine shook his head indignantly. "Mushrooms are gross. Besides, there's nothing better than pepperoni and sausage to put on your pizza."

"Except ham", Finn interjected.

"Or tuna and shrimp", Puck mused aloud. "That tastes really cool, too."

"Eew! I hate sea food", Blaine complained as he crinkled his nose.

"Okay seriously, is there anything that you _like?_", Puck asked in annoyance.

Blaine contemplated sticking his tongue out, but settled on ignoring the mohawked boy instead. He didn't want to get down to _that_ level of childish.

"I still stick to my ham," Finn said resolutely as he stepped through the door, sitting down at the table with Puck next to him. "It's easy to make. And it's good."

"That's so fucking boring", the mohawked boy deadpanned. "You can eat ham, like, every day."

"So?", Finn huffed. "I like it."

Blaine rolled his eyes as he sat down in the chair opposite Puck, but didn't bother interrupting the other boys in their little banter. Once they got started there was no way of stopping them anyway.

"That's stupid."

"_You're_ stupid!"

"Your _mom's_ stupid!"

With an exasperated sigh Blaine tuned them out and helped himself to some of the fried rice that already stood on the table right in front of him. It was only when he opened his mouth to ask if anyone else wanted some that he noticed that the seat next to him was still empty. He turned around and saw Kurt standing at the stove with his back turned to the other boys, his shoulders drawn up tensely in what looked like discomfort. The pale boy didn't seem to be cooking though. Weird.

"Kurt?", he asked sceptically. "What are you doing?"

Said boy's head snapped up sharply at the mention of his name and he wiped his eyes before turning around with a smile that looked kind of... hollow.

"Nothing. Sorry, I was just lost in thought I guess." He glanced at Blaine for all but a second, then diverted his gaze to avoid looking directly at anyone.

Blaine didn't quite buy his excuse, but since he wasn't really in the position to ask Kurt personal questions he decided to nod and leave it at that. "Do you want some rice?"

Kurt smiled again but it still didn't look sincere in Blaine's eyes. "Well, I _did_ make it, so yes, thank you." The pale boy's response sounded as stiff as he looked as he took his seat next to him and shoved the rice that Blaine had put on his plate around with a fork.

Blaine couldn't help but watch him from the corner of his eye. He genuinely wanted to know what had put Kurt off like that, he just didn't know how to approach the subject. Even though they had kind of solved their argument it wasn't like he and the pale boy were best buddies who told each other everything all of the sudden.

"Hey. You alright princess?"

Blaine looked up in surprise when he heard Puck's question, seeing the mohawked boy gazing intently at Kurt, a thoughtful frown on his face. And wow, he never thought that he'd ever get to see Puck look serious.

"Hm?", Kurt asked absentmindedly, obviously somewhere else in his mind. "Oh, yeah, sure."

Puck didn't seem to be satisfied with that answer. "I'm serious. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Kurt looked embarrassed now, not looking at anybody at the table. And... was he fidgeting? Yes, he was indeed fiddling with his shirt. Blaine's eyebrows drew together in confusion. He had_ never_ seen Kurt nervous before, not even on the stage when they checked in. What the hell was going on here?

"Bullshit." Puck voiced his thoughts as he leaned forward to get a better look at Kurt's face, the pale boy shrinking back ever so slightly at the extra attention he was getting. "What happened? Do I need to kick Anderson's ass?"

"Hey!" Blaine scowled at him indignantly.

Kurt's chuckle was way too high-pitched to sound normal. "No! No, Blaine didn't do anything. I'm fine, really."

Puck spared the pale boy one last lingering look before shrugging and returning to inhaling his food just like Finn was doing. Blaine on the other hand still couldn't concentrate on eating. For some reason Kurt's impassiveness nagged at him, like he was supposed to know what was wrong, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. He turned to Kurt.

"Are you _really_ okay? You look kind of... tense."

As if to prove him right Kurt's spine went rigid at his words. He let out a short, forced laugh. "What? Me? I'm not tense."

Seeing Kurt – collected, sarcastic, sassy Kurt – so flustered made Blaine frown.

"Um, yes you are", Finn interjected from the other side of the table. "You look like someone shoved a broom up your ass."

Kurt shot him a bitch glare that said 'Stay out of this or I will neuter you' and made the taller boy duck his head in fear. It was funny to watch really. "It's called poise, Finn. Something all three of you are absolutely lacking." Apparently Kurt's defense mechanism involved insulting those who made him feel threatened, Blaine noted. The pale boy stood up and raised his head haughtily, looking almost like his normal self again if it weren't for the distant look in his eyes. "Coming to think about it I got enough of your horrific manners for today. I'm taking this to my room." With that he took his plate and strutted away into the corridor. Only Puck noticed just how badly his fingers were shaking where they held the porcelain in his hands before the door slammed shut and Kurt was out of sight.

Finn let all the air rush out of his lungs at once as he slouched in his chair. "Damn. I thought he was scary before, but that just made him _that_ much scarier!"

"I'll go check on him", Puck mumbled, rose from his seat and made his way over to where Kurt had disappeared only moments before.

"You didn't finish your food", Finn called after him in protest, but Puck simply shook his head and disappeared around the corner.

Blaine watched him go with mixed feelings. What was it with Puck and all his checking on Kurt? It wasn't like he was a fucking guidance counselor! Blaine looked back down onto his plate, but suddenly didn't feel hungry at all anymore. His suspicion of Kurt and Puck being LIBNs was getting stronger and stronger every day and with it grew an uneasy feeling in his stomach that he couldn't quite explain. It was probably just a reaction to the thought that if Kurt and Puck belonged together that would mean he and Finn...

Blaine looked across the table where said boy was still stuffing rice into his mouth, pieces sticking to his cheeks and falling back onto his plate when he grinned at the smaller boy, showing the half-chewed food in his chipmunk'd cheeks. Blaine shuddered in disgust. Thank god he was straight.

* * *

><p>"Dude, what the hell was that?"<p>

Kurt fixed the mohawked boy with a pointed look, his plate laying seemingly untouched on his bed. "What are you talking about?"

"Just... that", Puck gestured to where the kitchen was behind the door. "That wasn't normal. Something happened and you are going to tell me. Right. Now." He took a threatening step forward, arms crossing in front of his chest.

Kurt straightened his back. "There's nothing to-"

"Shut. Up", Puck cut him off with a glare. "Last time I let you off the hook because I thought you'd handle it on your own just fine, but this is something way worse, I can tell."

"You don't-"

"I won't leave until you told me, so spill."

"Why should I tell you?", Kurt yelled, standing up from the bed angrily. "You always want me to open up and yet you never tell me anything about yourself. Why should I trust you?"

"Because you're alone", Puck shouted, causing Kurt to flinch back from his raised voice. "You're alone and you're hurting and I'm here, fucking _asking_ you to tell me, but you're just not letting me in! What the fuck, Hummel? There's no one else you can go to in this shitty place and I am goddamn _offering!_ I never did that, ever, for anyone, but I'm trying for you! Why can't you just appreciate that?"

"Why can't _you_ just leave me _alone?_" Kurt couldn't help that his voice cracked on the last syllable, emotion making his throat too tight to continue. He felt tears pricking in his eyes and blinked furiously to keep them at bay. He would be damned if he let Puck see him cry now.

The taller boy stayed silent for a long time, Kurt's heavy breathing the only sound in the room. Then he spoke, almost too quietly for the pale boy to hear. "I just want to help."

And Kurt broke. He sank down onto his bed and let the tears flow freely down his cheeks, defeated. All that bottling up was making him sick. Back when he had been bullied in his hometown he never told anyone about it, and just look at how great _that_ turned out. Puck was right, he needed to tell somebody.

"I- I just-" He hiccuped and wiped his eyes roughly. "When I still lived in Lima, I... There was this- this guy and-" A sob threatened to interrupt him, but he fought it down and continued hesitantly, not really comfortable with sharing all of this personal information about himself. "H-he just... He was straight, and I _knew_ it but... But I just... I hoped, okay?"

Kurt felt his bed dip where Puck sat down beside him, not touching, but a silent source of comfort. It was strangely reassuring.

"I was stupid and naïve and h-he was always so nice to me. Held the door open and bought me coffee and stuff like that. He just acted so... so _sweet_ and _caring_ and... I felt like he really understood me, you know?"

The pale boy's voice grew more confident with every word. Who knew that telling someone about this could feel like such a relief?

"I didn't know it, but, he- His friends had this bet that he could make me fall for him in three weeks to prove to everyone that I was gay. I mean, they already thought so, but I had never confirmed or denied it."

Kurt looked over at Puck and found him looking back at him with a sympathetic expression that gave him the courage to continue.

"When I told him about, you know- my feelings for him he just... he laughed in my face and said that no one would ever want me because everyone hates f-fags and... His friends and he... they outed me. To the whole school." Puck swore under his breath. "T-they made my life a living hell after this and I swore, I _swore_ that I would never fall for a straight guy again and... God." Kurt rubbed his eyes furiously. "I'm so pathetic."

"What an ass", Puck mumbled and shook his head. Then he eyed Kurt with a confused expression. "But, wasn't that like... a long time ago?"

The pale boy nodded miserably. "Yeah."

The mohawked boy frowned. "Then why... I'm sorry, but... why are you upset about that _now?_"

Kurt snorted, but it sounded choked due to his tight throat. "I'm not. I learned my lesson when they threw me into dumpsters or shoved me into lockers on a daily basis. Don't fall for a straight guy or you'll get your ass kicked."

Puck's brow furrowed further. "Then why..." His eyes went wide when he connected the dots in his head. "Oh."

Kurt chuckled humorlessly. "Yeah."

"You... you like, _like_ one of us?" The pale boy nodded mutely and Puck scooted a few inches away from him.

"Shit. That's- shit," Puck swore and rubbed his face. "Fuck. I knew this would happen. I just knew it."

"I-I'm sorry, I-", Kurt spoke up, desperate now that even the mohawked boy, his only 'friend' in this experiment seemed to turn away from him, but Puck held up a hand to stop him.

"Just... Just let me take this in for a few seconds, okay?"

At Kurt's meek nod he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose while the other boy waited anxiously for his response. "Wow, okay." Kurt tensed and closed his eyes, ready for the rejection that was bound to follow. "I've heard it said that I was irresistible, but I didn't think that applied for gay guys, too. Man, that's just awkward."

Kurt's eyes snapped back open in incredulity. "What? I- No! God, no, it's not you."

Puck touched a hand to his heart and let out a breath of relief. "Pfew, good. For a second I thought the days of our bro-talks were over."

"_Bro-talks?_", Kurt chortled dully despite his less than funny situation. "Seriously?"

"Who is it then?", Puck asked curiously, causing Kurt to sober up immediately. "Tall, dumb and dorky or small, dense and curly?"

The pale boy looked away.

"It's Anderson, isn't it?"

Kurt hung his head as his eyes watered again. That was all the confirmation Puck needed.

"Damn, princess. You really are in deep shit."

At that the pale boy's head snapped up, but his death glare was softened by the tears threatening to spill over. "You think I don't know that?", he hissed, his voice rising steadily in volume. "I fell in love with a homophobe once and I still have nightmares from how that ended and now it's happening again and I don't know what to do because it's like... It's just he... God! I didn't even really like him in the beginning! I mean the attraction was there but I didn't think... And now it's like... like his face is the freaking _sun_ and I just... Why me? Why does the world hate me so much?" He was crying in earnest now, hands in front of his face and sobs shaking his body while Puck sat unmovingly next to him. "I can't go through that again. I just _can't!_"

"I don't know what to tell you, Kurt", Puck said as he watched the other boy dissolve into a sobbing mess right next to him, not quite sure what to do with that. "Except that you, um... you'll get through this. And you're strong and... yeah." He trailed off awkwardly.

Through his hiccups a chocked laugh escaped Kurt's lips. "That was the worst pep talk I ever heard."

The taller boy threw his hands up. "I'm not good at this shit, okay? I never did this before. At least I'm trying."

"Why?"

Kurt's question caught Puck off guard. "Why what?"

"Why are you trying?", Kurt asked quietly, calmed down enough to look steadily at the other boy again.

Puck's face fell and he turned his head to the side. "I, um..."

"You just heard my whole sob story, Noah," Kurt deadpanned and rolled his eyes. "It's okay for you to tell me things, too. The days of bro-talk, remember?"

Puck chuckled. "Well, I guess I kind of owe you my own story, huh?"

"You don't owe me anything", Kurt said softly. "But if you want to, I'm listening."

The taller boy looked at him for a moment, startled by his lack of obtrusion, before he sighed. "Okay, so... You kind of remind me of someone."

"Your mom?", Kurt asked and Puck started laughing at the serious look on his face.

"What? No. Why would you think that?"

Kurt shrugged. "People always think I'm my mom when I answer the phone."

"But your mom's dead", Puck said bluntly, only noticing how rude his statement was when it was already out.

"Yeah", Kurt nodded, to Puck's surprise with a small grin on his face. "Shitty world, huh?"

"Yup", Puck agreed. "So anyways, you remind me of-" He cut himself off and narrowed his eyes before sighing. "You know what, I'll just tell you the whole story from the beginning. Makes it easier."

Kurt encouraged him with a nod and settled down against his headboard to get more comfortable. This was probably going to take some time. Puck apparently thought so too for he lay back on Kurt's bed, eyes cast to the ceiling, before he began.

"When I was in high-school there was this girl, Quinn. We weren't, like, a _thing_ or anything, but... I knocked her up."

He could literally _feel_ Kurt's accusing eyes on him, so he held up a hand in defense. "I regretted it, okay? Stop judging me!"

Kurt nodded though he wasn't that convinced. I mean, seriously, how difficult can it be to put on a condom?

"Anyways, Quinn had a boyfriend at that time and she told him the baby was his. They wanted to give it away for adoption, but... I don't know. That idea never sat right with me." The way he scratched his mohawk when he said that made Kurt think that there had to be more to that. "When her parents found out she was pregnant they kicked her out. She had to move in with a friend of hers for a few months."

Kurt hissed in sympathy. "Oh, that poor thing. Did she hold up okay?"

"Yeah." Puck shook his head. "But I didn't."

"Because you wanted to keep the baby." It wasn't a question.

Puck sighed. "You know, I never thought of me as responsible or, like, a _dad_ or something, but... I wanted her. God, I wanted her so much! And Quinn's stupid boyfriend actually got to have her and he wanted to give her away! I just... I was so fucking _angry_ back then."

A small smile slipped onto Kurt's face. "It was a girl?"

The pale boy's heart clenched at how much Puck's eyes softened at the thought of her. "Beth", he said quietly. "I named her Beth."

Kurt nodded. "Did you see her? I mean, before the adoption?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Hummel. I'm not finished", Puck said with a teasing tone. "So yeah, the whole thing kind of blew up in Quinn's face eventually. Her boyfriend found out that the baby was mine and broke up with her. I guess I kind of took that as a chance to make things right. I wanted to be a good dad for my daughter after all, not some fucked up loser." Puck closed his eyes for a second and sighed. "I got together with Quinn. Started working to gain money for her doctor bills. Went baby-sitting with her. Hell, I even massaged her feet between classes!"

"You loved her", Kurt interrupted his rant with a look of realization on his face.

Puck lowered his eyes for a second before he continued, not acknowledging Kurt's statement. "Quinn still wanted to give Beth away when she was giving birth to her. I was with her and I swear, seeing Beth for the first time... That was the best moment of my life. Like, even though I'm such a fuck up I still helped to bring something beautiful into this world." Puck's fingers clenched where he had them clasped together in his lap, shaking ever so slightly. "That was the last time I got to see her. Quinn had already signed the contract retiring her custody rights and Beth was gone the next day." Puck fell silent for a long time until he spoke quietly. "I... I really loved Quinn, you know? But I couldn't forgive her. Not after this."

"I'm so sorry, Noah", Kurt said quietly. "I wish I knew how-"

"You remind me of her", Puck interrupted him. "Of Beth." He looked up at the pale boy. "She had the same eyes."

Kurt didn't know how to respond to that, so he waited silently for Puck to continue.

"It's just... I won't get the chance to be there for her in the future. She'll probably never know my name, much less get to know me, but... I still want to protect her."

"So you're protecting _me_", Kurt nodded. "It makes sense now."

"You're a great guy, Kurt." The pale boy's head snapped up in surprise at the honesty in Puck's voice."You don't let anything get you down even though we were less than nice to you in the beginning. And you're smart. That's something I always wanted to be because it could get me out of my shitty small town." He fixed Kurt with a serious look. "You know who you are and you know you're a good guy. Who cares if Anderson doesn't see that?" Kurt lowered his eyes as the uneasy feeling in his stomach returned full force. Puck's story had actually made him forget his own problems for a little while. "He's a moron. You could wave life's happiness in his face and he wouldn't notice it until it bit him in the ass."

"He _is_ kind of oblivious", Kurt mused with a sad smile on his face before shaking his head. "But that doesn't make me feel any better."

"Just know that I have your back", Puck said and put a hand on his shoulder, surprising Kurt once again. His eyes were bright with care. "You're one of my boys now. And if Anderson gives you crap, just say the word and I'll kick him in the nads."

"Thanks, Noah", the pale boy murmured, touched by Puck's concern.

"Awesome", Puck exclaimed and clapped his hands together once. "Now that that's done, let's talk about something else. All these emotions are giving me whiplash."

Kurt chuckled – he had actually started to take a liking to 'jackass'-Puck – and agreed. "We're both pretty fucked up, huh?"

Puck mock-gasped. "Oh my!"

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Did my ears play a trick on me or did I just hear a curse word?" Puck fanned himself as he shook his head in fake exasperation. "Shame on you, Mr Hummel. Shame on you!"

Outside, walking through the corridor, Blaine could hear twin laughter sounding from inside Kurt's room, not quite understanding why it made him feel so queasy.

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><p><strong>Lame ending... Sorry, but I couldn't for the hell of it find a better one :( Did anyone notice how Puck talks about Beth with Kurt, but didn't with Blaine the chapter before? I sense some companionship there fellows, and knowing me that can only lead to drrrama! Dun, dun, duuuun... ;D Next chapter will have another realization in the LIBN department, so stick around ;) And review? Love you all!<strong>


	7. Let me in

**Oh God, you all must hate me by now for always letting you wait that long. Is anyone even still reading this? I'm so so sorry, I am, but lately my already stressful life has been like hell on earth, if hell was two musical productions, my driver's license and a shitload of school work to top it off in three weeks^^ But now I'm done and I can finally get home before 2 am again, yeyy :) No, but seriously, I've been under so much stress, I couldn't even _think_ about writing _anything,_ so I hope you forgive me... I'll try to write more and update sooner now! Holidays are coming up in one and a half weeks, so I'm very excited :) And then I'll have lots and lots of time to write and draw and all that stuff that I couldn't really do these past months. So, please bear with me, things are looking up again! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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><p><strong>Chemistry<strong>

**Ch. 7 – Let me in**

It's kind of sad, but most people tend to categorize everyone by their outward appearance as soon as they see them. The most common (also the most crackbrained, but that's beside the point) is the either 'good' or 'bad' category. Not only is this a totally unjustified and outworn cliche, but that first impression of a person is also pretty much permanent. Even if he or she outdoes all of your expectations later on the influence from the start is still there.

For obvious reasons Puck's badboy appearance was often mistaken for stupidity and arrogance. The mohawked boy didn't exactly work hard to convince the people around him otherwise, but in reality he was actually pretty damn smart. Just because he dropped out of school didn't mean he was dumb, thank you very much. He just hadn't seen the sense in the route he'd chosen anymore, so he'd stopped putting effort into it. Simple as that.

Even though he'd never admit it to anyone Puck actually took a lot of pride in the fact that he could see connections where other people didn't. It was also a reason why he liked talking to Kurt so much. The other boy didn't try to explain things that Puck already knew like other people did because they assumed that the mohawked boy was too dense to understand them otherwise. When he talked to Kurt the pale boy didn't question everything, but just listened as if what he was saying was the most important thing right about now. It made Puck feel accepted. And that was a great feeling.

It was due to his sensitive comprehension that Puck had already noticed the strange chemistry between Kurt and Blaine on the second day of their project. In fact it had been so freaking obvious that he wondered how it had taken Kurt so long to figure it out. That Blaine was still clueless wasn't really a surprise, I mean seriously, the hobbit walked around all day with a plank in front of his head. It was actually quite hilarious, watching Blaine get jealous of his interactions with Kurt without knowing why. Oh well. He'll understand it at his own time.

Puck was also very much aware that if Blaine and Kurt were ruled out from the four of them that this left only Finn as his possible LIBN. He knew that. It was just... well, he wasn't gay. He just wasn't. Finn was a great guy, a great buddy even and all that, but... Puck simply didn't feel it. And wasn't meeting your soulmate supposed to feel like something?

"It's magical," Kurt had slobbered over just that yesterday with hearts in his eyes and rainbows and unicorns twirling around his head. Puck still cringed at the memory. "It's like... waking up from deep slumber and he's just... _there_, you know?"

Well, Puck didn't necessarily feel like sleeping beauty (I mean, seriously, how gay would _that_ be?), so, no. Finn wasn't his LIBN. Definitely not. Why would he?

"Oookay. You've been staring at Finn for five minutes straight and it's getting really creepy. Care to talk about it?"

Puck snapped back around to Kurt who sat opposite of him at the table, a questioning eyebrow raised. His brow furrowed into a deep frown.

"I wasn't staring, Hummel", he growled defensively and crossed his arms, but he could already feel his eyes wander back over to the couch where Finn sat in the next room on their own accord.

"Yeah." Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you're not. Now stop thinking so much, I can literally _smell_ your burnt brain cells from over here." Puck snorted, but didn't dissent at all which made Kurt frown. "Seriously though. What's the matter?"

Puck sighed. "I don't even know", he mumbled without taking his scrutinizing eyes off Finn, surprising even himself with the honesty in his voice. He'd opened up a lot around Kurt lately and while it still felt strange it was kind of comforting to have someone just... _know_ about him**. **He silently shook his head at his own train of thought. Gosh, he was turning soft in this shit hole!

"You know, the doctors could be wrong", Kurt mused quietly, making Puck perk up again. "About that whole DNA thing. Maybe Finn's not meant to be yours."

Yours. _Mine_. _Finn's mine. Mine mine mine_. Puck rolled the thought over and over in his head, but couldn't for the hell of it find a feeling of warmth or some shit like that inside. "I guess you're right", he said absentmindedly.

And why the hell did that make him feel disappointed?

"You could always give it a try though", Kurt continued reassuringly and Puck cringed. Okay, he was supporting Kurt and his gayness and shit, but he would_ not _talk about things like relationships and crap like that. Hell no. That was where he drew the line.

"I don't like him, Hummel", he growled.

"You can call me Kurt now, you know? We've reached that point", the pale boy deadpanned. "And you can tell me a lot of things, Noah, but your staring is kind of proving you wrong."

"I am NOT gay", Puck flared up and Kurt flinched at his raised voice, his eyes wide. The mohawked boy sunk down immediately when he noticed Kurt's panicked look and sighed. "Sorry. I'm just... not gay, okay?"

Silence.

"Being gay isn't a sin", Kurt said quietly, a trace of hurt lacing his voice and making Puck feel guilty.

"I know", he replied softly. "I know, okay? I just... sorry."

Silence again

"I don't get you", Kurt broke it first, sounding exasperated. "You _can_ be tolerant. I know that you can. Why are you acting like this?" Puck looked up at him and found himself face to face with a look that seemed to drill down to his bones, down to his very core where tore open all the walls he had built so carefully around it. Puck's breathing quickened, suddenly feeling suffocated by the thick air that invaded the room now.

_Why are you acting like this?_

Fuck, he knew the answer. He looked at it every day in the mirror.

Before he knew what was happening Puck strode out of the kitchen into the living room, ignoring Kurt calling out his name from behind.

"What's going on?", Finn asked and sat up when Puck walked by, grabbing his arm. "Dude-"

The mohawked boy ripped his limb away as if it was burnt, fierce eyes searing Finn's. "Don't fucking touch me!"

The taller boy reached out a hand as if to lay it on Puck's shoulder. "Dude, you gotta- Ow!"

Puck had roughly slapped his hand away, shouting. "I _said_ don't touch me!"

"Fuck man, what's gotten into you?", Blaine exclaimed and straightened up where he slouched on the couch, Puck taking the opportunity to turn away from the hurt in Finn's eyes.

"None of your damn business, Anderson!", he growled menacingly.

Blaine stood up in anger. "Well, you made it my business when you started acting violent!"

"I am _NOT_ violent!", Puck burst out furiously, making the other boys shrink back from his clenched fists. "I'm _NOT!_ Why the fuck does everyone think that? You don't even know me!"

"Well, I know your kind!", Blaine retorted.

"And what on earth gives you the right to categorize him like that?"

Puck whipped around to see Kurt standing behind him, a defensive look on his face as he glared at Blaine. He hadn't even noticed the pale boy following him.

"You- What the fuck, Kurt! He hit Finn and you're defending him?", Blaine asked incredulously.

The pale boy snorted. "You call a little slap violent? Please. As if you never hit someone out of anger."

"That doesn't make it okay!", Blaine seethed.

"Well, you know what else isn't okay?", Puck shouted, striding towards Blaine. "That you're so fucking oblivi-"

"_Noah!_" Kurt's voice made the mohawked boy stop short. "Geez, calm down!"

Puck froze and slammed his eyes shut as he exhaled shakily through his nose. Fuck. He hadn't meant to act out like that again. His tense posture relaxed when he felt a gentle hand lay down on his shoulder and he turned his head a bit to look at Kurt and mouth a small _Sorry_.

Kurt smiled an _It's okay_ in response and stood up straight next to Puck, the hand still on his shoulder. "I'm going to my room now and _you_" He fixed everyone in turn with a hard gaze. "are going to sort this out. You're big boys, you can talk about stuff like this."

Kurt patted Puck's shoulder on his way out, a reassuring smile on his lips as he whispered quietly. "Don't let them get to you." The mohawked boy simply snorted as an answer which made Kurt shake his head and giggle to himself.

As soon as the pale boy left the room Finn plopped back down on the couch with an _oof, _wincing when he tried to catch his weight with his sore hand, but trying to mask it with a brave expression.

Puck, of course, still noticed and tried not to sound too guilty when he apologized. "Sorry dude, I didn't mean to. It's a reflex."

Finn looked up and gave him a lopsided smile, accompanied with a small shrug. "S'alright. I've had far worse, I used to play football in high school."

Puck perked up at that. "Yeah? Me too."

The honest smile on Finn's face made Puck happy for reasons he didn't care to think about. He made to sit down next to the taller boy, but halted when he noticed Blaine still standing there, looking lost in thought as he stared at the door Kurt disappeared through. Puck rolled his eyes. _Please, be any more obvious, will you?_

"Anderson. Scoot."

That seemed to snap Blaine out of it. He turned towards Puck and a frown made its way onto his face, much to the mohawked boy's annoyance.

"What?"

Blaine still eyed him with an unreadable expression and Puck was about to snap at him again when the smaller boy finally spoke up. "You let him call you Noah."

_I... Err... what?_ Puck paused. Of all the things Anderson could've said to him he hadn't expected _that_. He thought back to Kurt's and his conversation and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I did."

"You said that you don't let anyone call you Noah", Blaine said quietly, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Puck felt his anger flare up again at the implied mistrust, but he fought to push his temper down. He couldn't help but snarl at the other boy though. "Okay, you're annoying as fuck right now. What is your problem with that?"

Blaine just shook his head and sat down on the couch, mumbling "Nothing" under his breath.

Puck eyed him for a moment longer before he slowly sat down next to Finn and turned on the TV. "Alright then."

They watched in silence for a few minutes before Puck noticed Finn shifting restlessly next to him. He turned his head and saw a thoughtful expression on the tall boy's face as he stared into distance. "Hey, you okay?"

Finn look back at him, probably startled by the softness of his voice (as was Puck, goddammit he needed to man up again!). "Yeah, just... thinking."

"That's pretty dangerous, coming from you", Puck teased, but he was smiling to take the sting out of his words. Don't ask, he didn't know why he was acting so nice either.

Finn's eyes stayed on his lips for a second too long and he looked kind of confused. Why did he- Oh. That was probably the first time Puck had really smiled around him. The mohawked boy immediately got his facial expression back under control, turning away from Finn and saying gruffly. "Seriously though. What's up?"

The taller boy sighed. "I dunno. Just the whole Kurt and Blaine thing." Puck looked back at him incredulously. No way. Had Finn noticed- "They're like, always fighting for no reason." Puck sighed. Okay, there goes that thought.

"Well, Kurt most definitely _has_ a reason."

Finn shot him a suspicious look. "Why?"

Puck's eyes narrowed in incredulity. "Why? You seriously- Oh, okay, let's see. Anderson insults him, doesn't do shit to apologize and treats him like an outcast. There's your reason."

"But... this is bullshit!", Finn exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air and nearly knocking the couch table over. "Why can't they just talk it out? It's not like there's a real problem or anything."

Puck shot the taller boy an are-you-fucking-kidding-me look. "There's n- What the fuck? Of _course_ there is a problem", he argued, glaring at Finn. "Anderson said some pretty mean shit, dude. I totally understand that Kurt's pissed!"

"Um, guys, I'm right here", Blaine mumbled just to be demonstratively ignored.

"Okay, so what Blaine said wasn't nice", Finn said and rolled his eyes. "Big deal. That's no reason to make such a drama out of it. It's like Kurt's begging for attention or something."

"Well, he wouldn't have to if Anderson didn't fuck with him in the first place", Puck snarled in response, his gaze hard.

"But Kurt..."

"No!", Puck finally said sternly, straightening his back to look down on Finn. "Kurt's done nothing wrong."

The taller boy held up his hands in defense when he saw the muscles in Puck's upper arms tense threateningly. "Okay, whoa, chill, dude! I'm just saying..."

"Well, what you say is stupid", Puck snapped – oh so maturely – and crossed his arms over his chest. Blaine who had taken on watching the conversation silently up until now raised an eyebrow at the gesture.

"So you're siding with Kurt now?", he asked warily, propping himself up on his elbows so he could face the other boys. "Why?"

"Well, well. Look who decided to join in on the conversation", Puck said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "By the way, why _didn't_ you apologize yet?" He held up his hand as soon as Blaine opened his mouth. "And don't give me any of that crap about being too 'busy' or something. You had enough time in the last few days. It's not like we have anything to do in this little shit shack."

Blaine diverted his eyes to the floor. "I just... there wasn't a right time, okay? And now it's too late anyway, he's probably already forgotten about it", he defended himself stubbornly before actually snorting at Puck's wording. "And 'shit shack'? Really?"

"Don't dodge, Anderson", the taller boy said sternly. "You need to make things right. This is bad for the experiment."

"Oh come on", Blaine exclaimed angrily and stood up so that Puck didn't tower over him anymore. ...Well, not that much at least. "This whole_ 'experiment'_ is a fucking joke! Or why did they put three straight guys together in one house, huh? See something wrong there? Well, I do!"

"Geez, hobbit", Puck groaned and rubbed his face. "Your wailing's giving me a headache. Just suck it up, dude! Me and Finny boy do too!"

Blaine stopped his pacing for a few seconds to eye the mohawked boy with an unreadable expression. "Okay, no, you know what? In fact I'm not even so sure about that whole 'three straight guys' part anymore."

Puck scoffed and smirked smugly at that. "Oh hallelujah, he finally did it. Baby's first sexuality crisis. I'm so proud. Not that this _really_ is a surprise though, I mean with that dead chihuahua that you call hair on your head..."

"I wasn't talking about _me_, dumbass!", Blaine snapped sharply, eying Puck up and down. "I _meant_ that I'm not so sure about _you_ anymore with all that hanging around Hummel these days."

The mohawked boy's gaze immediately grew cold. "Don't," he gritted through his teeth, his hands clenching into fists. "Don't fucking go there."

Blaine's lips curled slightly in triumph. "Oh, so it's true, huh?" When Puck didn't answer the smaller boy chuckled darkly. "I knew it. He's your LIBN, right? That's why you're always with him. I guess you two hit it off right from the start, huh? Oh, actually that explains a lot!"

Puck snarled and took a menacing step forward. "Listen curly, I said this once and I will not repeat myself anymore after this. I am not. Fucking. Gay. Besides, I am _not_ nor will I _ever_ be into lady-face. He may be the closest to a chick I'm gonna get in the next weeks, but, for hell's sake, I'm not _that_ fucking desperate!"

"Then why are you all over him?", Blaine asked irritatedly. "It doesn't make sense!"

"The question is, why do you care?", Puck shot right back, glaring at the shorter boy. "You always act like you're straight and shit, but you're still jealous when I'm with him."

Blaine recoiled at that. "You- Are you insane? I'm not _jealous_, goddammit, I'm _concerned_,you asshole!"

"Why?", Puck shouted in the shorter boy's face, now standing directly in front of him. "Give that poor boy a break. It's not like he's contagious!"

"And yet he's turning you into a fag!", Blaine yelled, his neck red with anger and his breathing erratic.

Puck flexed his fingers and already pulled his arms back as if to hit the smaller boy when Finn lay a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Dude, seriously. Calm down!", he said quietly but firmly before glancing at Blaine. "You too. What the hell is _wrong_ with you guys? You can't beat the crap out of each other!"

Despite his bad wording both boys had to admit that Finn was right. If they started to get violent now they would be pulled out of the experiment and that was the last thing they wanted to get out of this. So after a few more seconds of heated staring they both backed down, Puck silently counting to ten in his head to calm his still flaring temper. Not that he wasn't a little... impulsive by nature already, but this seemed to happen an awful lot between him and Anderson. Strange.

Puck only snapped out of his thoughts when he felt Finn's hand on his shoulder tense and heard him mumble an "oh shit" under his breath. Looking up he saw the taller boy staring wide-eyed at the door where – as he followed his line of sight – Kurt stood in his pajamas, casually leaning against the door-frame. He felt his blood run cold. _Fuck._

"Oh, don't mind me", Kurt said with a shrug when the other boys caught his gaze, his eyes icy and unrelenting. "I'm just enjoying the show. It's better than whatever has been on TV lately, that's for sure."

Blaine's stomach dropped at the barely contained hurt and anger in the blue eyes in front of him as he inwardly slapped himself for his stupidity. How on earth hadn't he heard Kurt coming? What exactly had the pale boy witnessed of that whole scenario? And why the hell did he always end up insulting Kurt when he didn't even mean to?

Finn broke the tense silence first, his eyes wide with guilt now that he thought back to what he said. "Kurt, fuck, I didn't... I'm sorr-"

"Oh please", Kurt interrupted him with a held up hand and a snort. "It's not like I didn't already know all of that." His voice slipped into a higher, mocking register as if he'd heard what he was about to say too many times before. Somehow thinking that made Blaine sick. "Don't catch the gay. Don't drop the soap. They're gonna rape you! And remember kids, if you're gay you'll burn in hell, amen. Boo-fucking-hoo."

The three boys couldn't decide what was creepier. The fact that Kurt just swore or the way he chuckled humorlessly after that sentence. Blaine lowered his eyes guiltily, an apologize already forming on his lips, but he was interrupted by Kurt.

"I just..." He took a deep breath. "I just I thought I left that behind me", the pale boy murmured, suddenly sheepish, one arm wrapped around himself protectively. God, he looked so _small_.

"Look Kurt, I didn't mean to offend you", Blaine started but snapped his mouth shut when the pale boy shushed him with a jerky gesture and shook his head.

"Don't even bother, Blaine", he said in such a resigned tone that it made the smaller boy's heart clench with self-loathe for being the reason of that. "It's okay, really. You're allowed to have an opinion. Free country and all that jazz."

"No, please, just heard me o-"

"I think I'm going to bed", Kurt interrupted him again and left the room with a tired – and to the other boys' horror tear-filled – gaze at Puck at Finn. "Goodnight, guys."

With that Kurt turned around and walked briskly out of the room. Puck finally snapped out of his trance, immediately hot on his heels.

"No, wait. Stop! Kurt!"

The door slammed loudly as they disappeared into the pale boy's room, leaving Finn and Blaine standing in the living room alone with their thoughts.

_What the fuck have we done?_

"Kurt, please, listen to me," Puck said right after the door shut behind them, a desperate tone to his voice.

"What do you _want?_", Kurt turned and full-out screamed at the other boy with tears in his eyes, threatening to spill over. "Why can't you just leave me alone!"

"Because you're upset", Puck stated.

"I'm upset because you _made me_ upset, you asshole!"

Puck bit his lip. "I'm so sorry, Kurt. I didn't-"

"I'm not angry at _you_", the pale boy sniffled, not having the energy to shout any more. To Puck this seemed even worse than the screams, because now you could hear the heartbroken hurt in Kurt's voice clear as day. "I _know_ that you don't mean what you say. That doesn't make it right, but... I understand it. In a way. You had some issues in the past that made you like this and some day you're going to tell me, but... with Blaine he... he just..." Kurt put his head in his hands and started sobbing. "God, h-he thinks I'm disgusting! How much w-worse can it get?"

Puck tentatively put a hand between Kurt's shoulder blades and awkwardly rubbed them in comfort which – thankfully – made the pale boy stop sobbing so much. "He doesn't. He's just... confused or something."

Kurt snuffled pathetically. "He said I'm contagious, Noah."

"No, he didn't mean that. He just, um..."

"Took my heart and threw it in the shredder?"

"Okay!" Puck lifted his arms up in exasperation. "I get it. He's an asshole. Sorry for trying to help. Can we change the subject now?"

Kurt's eyes dulled and he lowered his head guiltily. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Puck whole demeanor softened at the pale boy's hopeless expression. "Hey, no, wait... I didn't... Argh" He groaned in frustration. "Fuck it, just come here."

Following some sort of spontaneous instinct Puck wrapped his arms around Kurt protectively, his right hand gently pressing the other boy's face into the crook of his own neck. He could feel Kurt stiffening against his body and for a second he panicked because what if this reminded Kurt of his bullies or made him uncomfortable, but then he felt the other boy tentatively hugging him back, breathing shakily against his shoulder.

"Thank you", the smaller boy whispered and Puck tightened his hold the tiniest bit, silently giving him his comfort and sympathy.

"He'll come around, Kurt", Puck murmured into said boy's hair and – surprising even himself – pressed a small kiss to the pale forehead displayed to him. "You're an amazing man. Anyone would be lucky to be with you."

He didn't know where all of this was coming from, but it felt so right that he couldn't find it in himself to question his new behavior.

Maybe there really was a bit of himself that had already become a father even before Beth was born.

Kurt just nodded in response, his throat locked up tight with emotion. They stood there in each others' arms for a long time, relishing in the comfort of having someone – a friend – so close to them again.

Finn sprinted through the corridor towards Kurt's door, guilt pooling around in his stomach. He knew that he shouldn't have said those things about Kurt, no matter if the boy was gay or straight or his LIBN, it just wasn't right. Blaine may not be affected by making the pale boy cry, but _he_ fucking cared. His mother had raised him like that.

So he was on his way to making amends and apologizing now. He skidded to a halt in front of Kurt's room and had just opened the door a tiny gap, about to call out for the pale boy, when the muffled voice of Puck through the door made him stop dead in his tracks.

"...an amazing man. Anyone would be lucky to be with you."

Finn frowned. What the hell was that supposed to mean? That didn't sound like mere comforting at all. The silence that followed made Finn even more uncomfortable than the actual words. What on earth were Puck and Kurt _doing?_ As silently as he possibly could he opened the door further and just barely contained his gasp of surprise at what he saw.

The two boys were hugging. And he meant _hugging_. Not in that platonic way that Finn hugged his friends but in a way that made him feel like he was intruding something private.

Kurt's back was turned to him, so he only saw Puck's face, eyes closed and full of an emotion that Finn couldn't quite place. Seeing the mohawked boy so... _open_ made his stomach to a weird flip. What the fuck was going on here?

He could be wrong, but seeing this only led to one conclusion. Puck and Kurt were LIBNs. For some reason that thought made his heart drop with an inexplicable anger towards the pale boy when he saw how peaceful Puck looked in Kurt's arms, how tight he held him.

When he suddenly started to feel like a creep for just standing there and watching, he closed the door quietly and walked back to his own room, his legs feeling heavier that before. Yes, there was no mistaking here. Those two were clearly compatible. But that would mean that he and Blaine...

_Ugh!_ Finn shuddered at the mere thought. Fucking gross! Blaine had become like a bro to him over the past few days. Them together would almost count as incest. So, no. But who else...

...Wait. Was he seriously thinking about being with a man? No, he didn't like boys like that, that was ridiculous! Suddenly Puck's face appeared in front of his eyes and his chest did that weird contraction thing again. Finn shook his head in desperation. What the fuck did that mean? All that thinking just made him even the more lost in his own confusion.

Finn trudged over to his bed and plopped down heavily, burrowing his head in his pillow. Sleep would help now. Sleep always helped.

A few minutes later he was snoring softly. And dreaming. About a mohawked man.

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><p><strong>That's it, cuties :) This chapter was slightly longer than the others, I hope this kind of makes up for the long wait? Well, anyway, please give me feedback because reviews make me happy :D Love you!<strong>


	8. The blame game

**Okay, I gotta admit it. I feel like a terrible person for keeping you waiting. This story really is a lot of fun to write, but lately I just lack the inspiration to write faster. I'm sorry :( I hope you can bare with me for a little longer until my muse comes back to me :D (and no, that didn't sound cheesy at all...). Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter! :) See you at the bottom of the page!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chemistry<strong>

**Ch.8 – The blame game**

Finn awoke with a start, his shirt drenched in sweat and heart pounding. His eyes darted around the room in the disorientation of someone who had only just woken up, searching for evidence that the dream was over. When he finally realized where he was Finn plopped back down onto the bed with a sigh, rubbing his eyes to make the images go away. He didn't dream often – much less remembered the dream afterwards – and when he did it usually resulted in a walk of shame to the laundry basket. But this? This had been different. A good or a bad different, he wasn't sure. Maybe a bit of both.

It hadn't been a wet dream (though the thought of that didn't gross him out nearly as much as it should), it had just been... weird. Weird and... well, just weird. Finn couldn't think of a better word for it.

He sighed in frustration. Sometimes he hated that he was so... not-wordy (Gosh, he didn't even know a smart word for that!), especially when he was around people who sounded like a freaking dictionary all the time. Like Kurt for example. _He_ probably could have named the things Finn was feeling right now with twenty different words, while it was always a struggle for the taller boy to make sense of what was happening inside of him. Like all those times his ex-girlfriend had yelled at him and he hadn't known if she'd been right or not. Or whenever he used to see her with her new fiance and hadn't been able to tell if it was jealousy or something else that made him act so douchy. Or that stupid incident when he'd been drunk that one time...

Back to the topic.

There was no use denying who Finn had dreamed about last night. After all it wasn't like he had a shitload of guys with mohawks and olive skin in his group of friends. And despite what one may think the dream hadn't been sexual or lovey-dovey in any definition of the word. Quite the contrary. They hadn't even _talked_ in it. The only thing Finn could remember of the dream were random images that had popped up in front of his eyes and later vanished again. Just little snippets, nothing special or anything.

Except that it had always been Puck. Various memories of his laughter or his smile – the real one, not that smirk he always wore – and, most importantly, his eyes. Over and over again his eyes. They were really pretty now that Finn thought about it... Some sort of brown-green-grayish mix that would brighten and sparkle when the light hit it just right and- _why on earth was he thinking about that?_

Finn turned over and groaned into his pillow. There was a tingly feeling in his chest, one of the kind that he used to get around Rachel before they'd actually been together. He knew what that feeling meant, at least when he was around girls. But with dudes? With _Puck?_

Surely it had to mean something else in that situation. Because Finn – who had _been _with girls and had _sex_ with girls and _enjoyed_ it – couldn't be _gay_ after all, could he? No. Definitely not. Because Puck, the _dude_, was just another male, straight friend with a penis and that was gross and totally not attractive at all. Duh.

_Then why did you dream about him?_

Finn scrunched his eyebrows together in a frown at his own thoughts. Yeah, that was a question he couldn't and didn't even _want_ to answer. Maybe if he just ignored it long enough that weird feeling would go away all by itself and he wouldn't have to figure out what it was in the first place. Yeah, that sounded good. Besides the uncomplicated way had always been the best, right? Right.

Finn nodded to himself in determination and got up from his bed. He would _not _let a stupid dream that meant nothing at all get him down. He was Finn freaking Hudson and he never was and would_ never _be into Noah Puckerman, no matter how pretty his eyes were. Which they were by the way. Not that it mattered. Like, at all.

Finn stepped out of his room, stretching and yawning as he trudged heavily towards the kitchen for a morning snack. That reminded him, what time was it any- _oh._

"Oh come on", he grunted to himself when he caught a glimpse of the time on his watch.

_5:32 AM_

Goddammit, he didn't even _know_ this time of the day at home!

Finn sighed as he grabbed an apple off the counter and started munching on it, trying not to think about what today was going to be like. Despite the fact that so much as the thought of Puck made him nauseous and that he still hadn't made amends with Kurt, he could tell by the sound of rain splattering against the kitchen window that it had to be storming outside.

Great. Just what he needed right now.

Finn threw the remains of his apple into the trash can before he turned and walked back to the corridor, suddenly not feeling up to food anymore. And that was saying something, because if there was one thing that was still true in this world it was that Finn Hudson was always hungry. Always. Unless he was really upset about something.

Which he wasn't right now. Not at all. Especially not because of mohawked men with pretty eyes who starred in dreams without permission as if they didn't have better things to do with their nights...

Finn didn't even notice where his feet had carried him until he came to an abrupt stop in front of Puck's closed door next to his own. _What the hell? Great, Hudson. Now you're going insane, too. Congratulations._

Finn shook his head at himself and was about to turn around and go back to his own room... when he hesitated.

He eyed the door again, torn between leaving and stepping inside. On the one hand he _didn't_ want to talk to Puck in case he blurted something out that he shouldn't, but he had to admit that it was kind of tempting to see the object of his dream in flesh again. Just to make sure that his feelings _really_ were only platonic...

Which they _WERE,_ god, he had to stop questioning himself! Finn Hudson was _NOT_ gay!

...But making sure couldn't hurt, right?

Finn quickly grabbed the door handle before he could change his mind again, but stopped mid-movement once more. Should he knock? No, that was a bad idea. The mohawked boy was probably still asleep right now, maybe even dreaming just as Finn had been. That made him wonder... What would a guy like Puck be dreaming about?

_Probably banging a chick_, an evil voice in Finn's head whispered and the tall boy frowned as he tried to shake off the uneasy feeling he got in his stomach at that thought.

_Yeah, probably._ He didn't know why that admission had a slightly bitter tang to it._ But only if it isn't Kurt he's dreaming abo- shit!_

Finn's eyes widened as he jumped away from the door, feeling like he'd just been splashed with cold water. The hug! He'd totally forgotten about that! The sudden surge of betrayal and rage he felt towards Kurt hit him way harder than it should have. Puck had looked to contended in Kurt's arms... What did the pale boy have that Finn didn't?

Before he was even consciously aware of it Finn found himself glaring at the pale boy's door, something that felt way too much like jealousy to be healthy bubbling up in his stomach. Had Puck and Kurt hugged a lot since the beginning of the experiment? Or worse, had they _kissed?_ He didn't know why, but he felt like throwing up at that thought.

When had they become close enough to _hug_ each other anyway? Puck didn't seem like the type to just randomly hug everyone he knew, especially because he didn't like to show affection in general. Or did he? Finn didn't know him well enough to tell for sure... Which was totally Kurt's fault. It was like the pale boy was taking Puck all for himself, not even giving Finn the _chance_ to get to know him better. How could Puck possibly think that Kurt was his LIBN if he hadn't even tried to... _Wait __a second... WHAT?_

Finn blinked in confusion as he came back to reality and suddenly realized what he was doing with a gasp. Holy shit! He was acting like a jealous teenage boy! What for the mother of fuck was _wrong_ with him?

He all but yanked the door to his own room open and hurried inside, cradling his head in his hands where he plopped down onto the bed.

The feeling _still_ hadn't gone away. Quite the contrary actually. It now felt like someone had dropped a rock into his stomach that grew and grew with each thought straying over to Puck and Kurt.

Finn made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat, one hand easing the grip it had on his hair to punch down into his pillow.

Something was changing. And he didn't like it.

* * *

><p>"I'm so fucking sick of being inside all day", Puck moaned, plopping down onto Kurt's bed heavily. "I'm bored as shit. And I'm hungry."<p>

"Why, hello to you too, Noah", Kurt replied evenly, not bothering to look up from his nails which he was busy polishing right now. "I'm fine, thanks for asking. How about you?"

"It's like there's _nothing_ to do in here!", Puck complained loudly as if he hadn't even heard the pale boy. "All we ever do is talk and watch TV! I mean, seriously? I can literally _feel_ my muscles shrinking! I need some action again!"

Kurt nodded absentmindedly. He had to admit that Puck was actually making a pretty good point there. These walls slowly started to feel like a cage, especially because he was used to large shopping and coffee tours with his girls every few days. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Puck sighed and stretched his limbs pleasurably, groaning in relaxation when his joints popped loudly. Kurt scrunched up his nose at the sound.

"Could you please not do that? It's disgusting", he said with no real fire behind it, well aware that his words only fell on deaf ears anyway. He was proven right when Puck continued without as much as acknowledging his request.

"It's been eight days now," the mohawked boy whined, reminding Kurt of a crotchety baby that didn't get the ice cream. "Don't you think that they should let us out of here every once in a while? Being inside for so long can't be healthy! Besides, I miss the sun."

"It's raining outside", Kurt deadpanned and smirked when the other boy glared at him.

"Not the point!"

The pale boy chuckled and held up his hands in defense. "Just saying."

"Yeah. Anyway," Puck turned his body towards Kurt, propping himself up on one arm. "I was wondering if we could do something together. Just the two of us since... well, you're not talking to Blaine. Again."

Kurt's cheeks reddened in anger and embarrassment as he defended himself stubbornly. "What? It's not like it's my fault! He insults me and then doesn't even apologize and... ufff." Kurt puffed out his cheeks and let out a heavy breath. "I'm like a broken record, huh?"

"Pretty much", Puck sing-songed and the pale boy sighed in defeat.

"Okay, fine. You made your point. What about Finn?"

It was amazing how fast Puck could go from cocky to flustered. "What? What about him?"

Kurt smirked knowingly. "You're still thinking about the two of you being LIBNs, huh?"

Puck frowned and opened his mouth, an insult ready on his tongue, but bit it back at the last second. Who was he kidding, he _had_ been thinking about that. In fact the idea had become so prominent in his mind that it had gotten hard to concentrate on anything else whenever Finn was in the room. But he sure as hell wasn't going to admit that to anyone.

On the other hand... this was Kurt. His – dare he say it – _friend_ who knew more about him than most of the idiots he called 'friends' at home. Besides it wasn't like Kurt was going to tell anyone about it, right?

"I, um..." Puck cleared his throat when his voice came out sounding shaky. Fuck, why was this so hard? "I was just thinking that... you know, if you and Anderson are LIBNs that means Finn is the only one left who could be my partner, but that's ridiculous because we're both straight and it's not an option anyway and I fucked girls and shit and I'm not gay", he rambled and slapped himself internally once he was finished. What the fuck? Noah Puckerman did _not_ ramble! Where was this coming from? And fuck, Kurt was grinning at him like he knew something that he didn't, making him all nervous and _goddammit_ Noah Puckerman did _not get nervous!_

"So...", Kurt drawled and Puck had to resist the urge to shrink in on himself at his scrutinizing look. "Is you and Finn together a good thought or a bad thought?"

Puck paled. Shit. "Um... I dunno?" It sounded like a question. Why did it sound like a question?

"So I'll take that as a yes?", Kurt said kindly and softened his gaze. "It's okay, Noah. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Oh thank God.

"Cool", Puck said, trying not to sound too relieved. Gosh, he'd almost lost his bad-ass composure back there! That wouldn't happen to him again. He quickly shoved all of his Finn-concerning thoughts to the back of his mind where they belonged. All this thinking was probably just his super horny self talking because he hadn't gotten a chick in eight days and was now projecting his feelings onto someone, namely Finn. Yeah, that was it. Not gay, just horny.

"So", Kurt ripped him from his train of thought as he rose from the bed. "You wanted to do something, right? Any ideas?"

Puck waved a hand at him dismissively. "We'll think of something later." A short pause. "But I'm still hungry."

The pale boy snorted. "You're always hungry."

"So?", Puck said defensively and crossed his arms. "You should start cooking now anyway. It's almost nine."

"Well, _I_ am _not_ hungry," Kurt huffed with his nose raised haughtily."Besides you can just as well make lunch for yourself. All the stuff is in the kitchen."

"For the last time, Hummel", Puck drawled with an eye-roll. "I. Can. Not. Cook. Okay? I'd do it myself if I could, but _unfortunately_ you have to do it for me. Sorry I'm not sorry." He smirked victoriously.

Kurt was about to groan in exasperation when suddenly a wicked smirk found its way onto his face.

"Oh... _oh!_ Noah, I just had the_ best _idea for what we're going to do today."

Puck frowned as the pale boy already started walking over to the door. "Whoa, wait a minute! I don't like that look on your face, Hummel."

"Oooh, come on", Kurt begged sweetly, but the devilish glint in his eyes betrayed his innocent tone. "It'll be fun, I promise!"

"This is going to kill me, isn't it?", Puck sighed, but got up anyway. "Alright, fine. What did you have in mind?"

Kurt was already halfway out the door by the time Puck finished his sentence, glancing back at him over his shoulder. "Just follow me."

* * *

><p>A few minutes later Blaine found Finn sitting on the living room couch, staring into nothingness.<p>

"Hey", he greeted and plopped down next to him. "Why are you up so early? Last time I checked you slept like a stone."

Finn kept his eyes on the TV, watching but not actually seeing anything as he grunted a response. "Mhmm."

Blaine quizzically cocked his head to the side. "You okay?"

The taller boy's head snapped around as if he'd only just noticed Blaine next to him. "Huh?"

"I asked if you're alright", the smaller boy repeated patiently.

"Oh. Uh... yeah. Of course." The probably-supposed-to-be convincing smile on Finn's lips looked more like a grimace than anything else.

Blaine couldn't help but chuckle. "You're a terrible liar, you know that?"

Finn sighed, but smiled sheepishly anyway. "Yeah, I know. Sorry, dude, I just... bad dream."

"Nightmare?"

Finn shook his head. "No, not at all... wait, no, yes- I mean... ugh!" He groaned and hid his face in his palms. "Can we not talk about it right now?"

Blaine shrugged and lay back against the couch, fiddling with his thumbs. "Sure." They sat in slightly uncomfortable silence for a few minutes until the smaller boy tried to start up conversation again. "You know, I was thinking that we should-"

"_Isawpuckandkurthugging"_, Finn blurted out suddenly, jumbling over his words as if he couldn't get them out fast enough. Blaine stopped mid-sentence and raised an eyebrow.

"Whoa! Slow down there. You saw what exactly?"

Finn took a deep breath before he spoke again, this time slower. "Puck and Kurt. I think they were, like, making up or something and then Puck said those weird things like 'you're amazing' and then they were silent, like, _too_ silent and I looked and then they hugged and it looked really weird." By the time he was finished with his awkward rambling Finn looked flushed with embarrassment for letting this get to him so much.

Blaine's brow furrowed slightly as he tried to make sense of the word vomit that just happened. "Uhm, okay. So I'm guessing the quintessence is that... they hugged?"

Finn nodded mutely.

"And that's what's bothering you?"

Another nod.

"Why?"

Finn was silent for a while before he sighed in defeat. "I dunno", he mumbled.

The taller boy looked so troubled that Blaine couldn't help but drill further. "Well, there has to be a reason if you're so bothered by it."

Finn looked away, his lips pressed into a tight line.

"Dude, come on", Blaine coaxed, slightly concerned now. "What's wrong? You can tell m-"

"Shut up", the taller boy suddenly snapped and looked up with anger in his eyes. "I'm not gay! You don't even know me!"

Blaine flinched back at Finn's aggressive tone. "Err... okay?", he said hesitantly, now more confused than ever. Where had that come from?

Finn visibly deflated at Blaine's alarmed gestures and sighed. "Sorry man. I'm just worked up, that's all."

Blaine nodded mutely, but decided not to prod anymore. If Finn thought that he wasn't ready to talk about it he wouldn't-

"_GODDAMMIT, NOAH!_"

Both boys whipped around towards the kitchen where the indignant shriek had come from, then turned back towards each other.

"What was that?"

"I don't know."

They rose from the couch simultaneously and walked over to the half-opened door to see Puck laughing like a maniac at Kurt who was desperately trying to pick white stuff that looked like sugar out of his hair, swearing loudly.

"You stupid jerk!", he yelled at the mohawked boy. "When I said we were going to make pancakes I meant _in a bowl_ and _NOT _on my _head!_"

"Oh, come on, princess", Puck giggled – _giggled_ – and walked over to Kurt to assist him in wiping the sugar off his shirt. "You look so _sweet_ like this."

When the pale boy whipped around to fix him with his deadliest bitch-glare, Puck started laughing loudly once again... until an egg cracked open on his forehead.

The bad-ass let out a not-so-manly shriek of surprise and indignantly wiped at his brow, an incredulous look on his face. "_DUDE!_ What the hell?"

"And _that's_ what you get for messing with Kurt Hummel!", the pale boy shouted smugly, laughing at the threatening death-glare Puck sent his way

"Oooh... Now you're gonna get it, queen bitch!", the mohawked boy cried out, a mischievous grin on his lips, and all but pounced on Kurt whose laughter quickly morphed into high-pitched battle cries of his own.

Blaine and Finn could only watch with wide eyes as the two boys' banter turned into a full-blown food fight right in front of them. Eggs and flour were flying everywhere, landing on everything except the half-fixed bowl of batter on the table, but – much to the other boys' surprise – Kurt didn't even seem to mind his clothes getting dirty. Quite the contrary, he was playing around with Puck like a kid whose birthday, Christmas and Easter had come all on the same day.

Blaine felt the corners of his mouth twitch up at how happy the pale boy looked in all this mess the two boys were making, but his smile soon turned bitter when he realized that _he _himself had never made Kurt look like that.

_He's probably just trying to distract himself from our behavior_, Blaine thought sadly, all the guilt and pain from the day before coming back to him now. _Because we acted like homophobic assholes. Fuck._

When Puck grabbed Kurt around the waist from behind and spun him around, both of them laughing as if they didn't have a care in the world, Finn suddenly stepped past Blaine into the kitchen, shouting irritatedly over their laughter. "_What the hell is going on here?_"

Puck stopped spinning abruptly as he and Kurt whipped around to look at the doorway like two does caught in the headlights, unaware that the mohawked boy still had his arms wrapped around the smaller one's waist.

Finn's gaze darkened where it landed on their sort-of-hug and he kept shouting. "What are you doing? This place looks like a mess! And you're wasting all of our food!"

There was a short moment of stunned silence before Kurt found his speech again, quickly stepping out of Puck's arms.

"We're cooking," he said slowly, his tone ice cold and eyes guarded; all of his defense walls slamming up again. Blaine suddenly found himself wishing that Finn hadn't said anything just so he could see that carefree smile on Kurt's face again. Just for one more minute. "Why?"

"Well, it doesn't look like cooking to me", Finn insisted coolly, crossing his arms and glaring at Kurt.

"Oh and you would most certainly know that, huh?", Kurt said sarcastically, sounding slightly angry now. "'Cause after all _you _are the one who's always cooking in this house and therefore has the right to criticize everyone else's methods. Right. How could I have forgotten."

"Shut up!", Finn suddenly shouted, making Kurt flinch back ever so slightly. "Stay out of this, Hummel! I wasn't talking to _you._"

"What's your problem man?", Puck spoke up irritatedly as he stepped in front of Kurt as if to shield him from the taller boy. "Lay off, okay? We were just having some fun! Nothing wrong with that. Besides God knows Kurt can use some distraction after what you and Anderson did to him. Which you still haven't apologized for by the way, asshole," he spat and Finn shrunk back from his offensive tone.

"Noah", Kurt soothed from behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Geez, calm down. It's fine!"

Puck turned around to look at the pale boy and hissed out through his teeth, "No. No, it's fucking _not!_" He turned back around to fix Finn with a harsh glare. "You know what? I'm gonna tell you what _I_ think now, so you better listen. Kurt may not chew you out for what you said about him – and believe me, I've tried to get him to do that – , but _I_ for one am _so fucking sick_ of you and Anderson for not even _trying _to be nice! Is a simple fucking apology really that hard? I mean, seriously, if_ I_ had the balls to come clear and sort this out, then even a _dumb-fuck_ like you should be able to do that as well!"

Finn's wide-eyed gaze traveled from Puck to Kurt and back again, looking somewhat like a kicked puppy. Finally his stare zeroed in on the pale boy's hand on Puck's shoulder and his eyes misted over with something akin to disappointment before he turned around brusquely to storm out of the kitchen.

Blaine watched his departure from the other side of the doorway, feeling slightly queasy in the pit of his stomach. Looking at this little exchange had made him realize something very important: He stood utterly alone in this experiment right now. Finn had closed himself off from the other boys and didn't want to talk about the Why, not even with Blaine. That ruled _him_ out as a companion. Puck on the other hand was so protective of Kurt that it was almost scary. And if the mohawked boy was _that _wary of Finn he must absolutely _hate_ Blaine for what he did, so there goes that possible friendship. Not to mention Kurt...

"Do I need to kick his ass?", Blaine heard Puck say to said boy right now. "Cause I totally will. You're my boy now, Kurt. If he's messing with _you_, he's messing wi_-_" Suddenly the mohawked boy seemed to cut himself off before before muttering something that made Blaine almost nauseous with sadness.

"Hey... Hey, don't cry, princess. You're good, okay? It's not your fault!"

Kurt was crying. Kurt, that poor guy who had been so happy just minutes ago, was crying. Blaine slammed his eyes shut as if he could block out the thought like that. Fuck, he couldn't take this shitty guilt anymore! He needed a break.

Blaine turned around abruptly and hurried away from the door, self-loathe nagging at his insides. He felt absolutely terrible, partly because he knew that what Puck had said to Finn applied to him just as well, and partly because he knew that Kurt had cried an awful lot in the last few days just because he and Finn were the biggest assholes on this planet. And now they'd done it again. Just great.

Blaine trudged into his room, plopping down onto his bed face-first and with a heavy sigh.

_How was he going to make this right?_

* * *

><p>Puck's brow was furrowed in concern as he made his way over to Kurt who was still covering his eyes with one hand, his shoulders shaking ever so slightly.<p>

"Hey, c'mon Kurt, don't let this shit get to you again. He's just..." Puck stopped himself, brow furrowing as he looked closer. "Kurt?" No reaction. "Kurt. Look at me." At his demanding tone the pale boy lowered his hand slowly and peeped up at Puck, but instead of tear-filled eyes the mohawked boy saw his blue orbs sparkling with barely-contained amusement.

Puck just stared stupidly for a second before his mind finally caught up with what was happening. "Wait, hold on. Are you _laughing?_"

Now Kurt couldn't hold in his giggles anymore. He cackled loudly, bending over to hold his aching stomach and making Puck gradually start to question the sanity of his friend.

"What on earth is so funny?", the mohawked boy asked after a few minutes, irritated by the pale boy's unceasing laughter. "Talk to me, dammit!"

"Don't you get it?", Kurt snorted between his chuckles. "He's jealous! Oh my God, Finn's jealous of me! That's golden!"

"I- wait. What?", Puck stuttered dumbly.

"God, I can't believe I didn't notice this before!", Kurt mused loudly to himself, a grin forming on his lips. "In hindsight it's so obvious..."

"_What?_ What's obvious?", Puck demanded, getting more impatient by the second. "Why the fuck would he be jealous of you?"

Kurt smirked at him. "Seriously, Noah? For someone who's usually so perceptive you can be all kinds of oblivious." He quickly continued before Puck even got the chance to be indignant over his statement. "Finn's _obviously_ jealous because you're always with _me_ instead of spending time with him like you did in the beginning. Didn't you see him glare at me?" He shook his head with a smile. "I swear to God, if looks could kill..."

Kurt couldn't help but giggle at the way Puck's eyes widened as the mohawked boy came to his own conclusions.

"Fuck! You mean he..."

"...thinks that we're LIBNs? Yes."

Puck scrunched up his nose in disgust. "_Eww! _Gross! I mean, no offense, man, but- just- eww! Why would he think that?"

Kurt rolled his eyes, not even acknowledging Puck's insults. "Well, let's see. You're always in my room, you constantly flirt with me and he just caught us having a freaking food fight in the kitchen. Doesn't exactly scream innocence if you ask me."

"Okay, okay", Puck waved him off. "I get it. But still, why would he be jealous? He can't... _Oh._" His eyes widened as a sudden thought struck him, but it was so absurd that he dismissed it immediately with a shake of his head. "No, that's stupid. He doesn't... does he?"

Kurt shot him his patented 'Are-you-fucking-kidding-me-right-now'-look (as Puck had dubbed it some time ago) which could only mean that the pale boy also thought... _No. No fucking way._

"He thinks I'm _his_ LIBN, doesn't he?", Puck murmured, shocked at the possibility.

"Aaand he gets it. Congratulations", Kurt joked as he bent under the sink to fetch a dish towel and started cleaning up the mess they'd made. "If you ask me the more important question is if he's aware of it or not", he added as an afterthought before focusing back on the task at hand. "Now help me clean this up, Puckerman. I'm sure as hell not doing it by myself!"

The mohawked boy didn't even bother to respond, his mind racing two hundred miles a minute as he absentmindedly grabbed a sponge from the counter and started scrubbing at the dirty kitchen table. So apparently straight-as-they-come Finn seemed to take an interest in him. He shook his head at how ridiculous this situation was. Seriously, this day couldn't get any weirder if it tried.

What confused Puck more than anything else was that he honestly couldn't tell how this new revelation made him feel yet. Was he disgusted? Freaked out? Happy?

It was too difficult to figure out now. Puck gladly pushed the thought to the back of his mind, deciding that he could just as well mull over it later. Oh well, at least there was one thing he knew for sure:

This day had given him a lot to think about.

* * *

><p><strong>That's it for now :) I'm sorry to say that I won't be able to update for a short while (not that that's much of a surprise^^) because here in Germany it's still summer-holiday-time (WOOHOOOH!) and I'm going to France for two weeks :D It's my first time there, so I'm really exciteeed! I'm even gonna see Paris! :D So, I'll think of you and see you later! Oh and by the way, leave me a review and tell me what you think of this chapter, please :) Love you!<strong>


	9. Let it be

**It's been forever since the last update. I know that and I'm sorry, but I just had absolutely no time to continue writing. Please don't kill me. *Hides*  
><strong>**To those of you who are still reading, thank you so much for your patience! It really means a lot to me. So, um... I hope you enjoy it.. **

* * *

><p><strong>Chemistry<strong>

**Ch.9 – Let it be**

Blaine lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

The sun had set about an hour ago, beautiful through the small gap in his curtains. For a few minutes the sky had been a fantastic swirl of reds and oranges and yellows. Blaine's favorite kind of sunset.

He hadn't even noticed it.

It was probably late in the evening by now, at least judging by how dark it was outside. The only light source still illuminating Blaine's room was the faint shimmer of the moon through the window to his left for he hadn't bothered turning on the down lights or even the lamp on his nightstand. Nor had he brushed his teeth or gotten his contacts out. No, right now he just lay here in the blackness of his room, the sound of his slow breathing his only company. Thinking.

Dinner had come and gone without him at the table. Not that he cared. In all honesty he didn't even notice that nobody had come to check on him or that his stomach was already growling in protest. Right now he didn't notice much of anything at all, really.

Blaine sighed heavily and – probably for the hundredth time this evening – willed sleep to finally come and just let him_ forget_ for a little while, but his eyelids still refused to droop even after hours of lying here and doing nothing. His reeling thoughts didn't exactly help things either.

He hadn't paid much thought to what Finn told him before, but now, in the silence of his room, he started wondering.

_I saw Puck and Kurt hugging._

Hugging. In a way that bothered Finn. He just couldn't wrap his mind around the thought of Finn being bothered by a _hug _between two guys. I mean, Blaine hugged his cousins, too. ...Okay, he knew that that was different. But... other guys hugged too, right? At least friends did. The question was, were Kurt and Puck really that close? Friends?

Blaine found that hard to believe. They were so different in every aspect of their appearance that the thought alone seemed absurd.

But then again, the Puck he'd seen messing around with Kurt in the kitchen... that was a different Puck from the cocky, arrogant one he knew. Even different from the deeper, thoughtful version of Puck that he'd jammed with once. Was there a facet to him that Blaine had never seen until now? Was the mohawked boy more open, friendlier around Kurt?

Somehow that thought didn't sit right with him.

Okay, Blaine had to admit it, the two boys _did_ spend a lot of time together. And Puck had defended Kurt against Finn, that was true. But did that really make them actual friends?

_Or did it make them more?_

Now there was another thought keeping him awake. After seeing them in the kitchen Blaine's Puck-Kurt-LIBN theory had started nagging at him once again, except _this_ time it felt different. He almost didn't _want_ to get into it anymore because each time it crossed his mind it left an inexplicable ache in his chest that just wouldn't go away.

This experiment was tearing at his nerves.

As about now he felt like their group wasn't even a group anymore. Finn was off flying solo or whatever and Puck and Kurt didn't really talk to anyone beside each other. The air in the house was so tense that Blaine wanted to scream.

And all of it was _Finn's_ fault. Because that stupid idiot just _had to_ start up the damn fight again when everything had finally been getting better. And now it was just that much _worse_ which he hadn't even thought possible at that time.

Okay, so _technically_ Blaine knew that the fault for everything lay more with himself than Finn, but he stubbornly tried not to think too hard about that. It made him feel like a bad person. A really bad person.

Okay no, let's face it. Blaine felt goddamn awful.

Seriously, what was wrong with him? Normally he'd _never_ go around screaming at people, no matter their sexuality. It wasn't even like had a problem with gays! It was just... just being around _Kurt_, because _Kurt_ confused the hell out of him and not being in control of his thoughts like that made him short tempered really fast... Too bad that this wasn't really an excuse for acting like he did. Or a proper apology.

Because Blaine knew now that he had to apologize. If not for Kurt then simply for his own selfish reasons. Because at this point the heavy _guilt_ was so overpowering that it felt like acid pooling around in his stomach almost to the point of making him sick. Also the nauseating memory of Kurt's hurt eyes would soon be imprinted permanently in his retina if he didn't stop thinking about it. He couldn't _eat_, he couldn't fucking _sleep_ and not even his Harry Potter novels could distract him anymore. This whole situation was making him more miserable that he'd ever been in his life, even worse than at that time when he'd been bullied in high school for wearing bow ties and liking show choir.

So he _needed_ to apologize. He _knew_ that, okay?

The question was... How?

Blaine sighed and rubbed his eyes in frustration. He had gone through several possibilities already, each more ridiculous that the last. Some of them were so cheesy that he was sure that if he actually pulled them on Kurt the pale boy would probably not only kill him but _quarter_ him and then cut him into small pieces with a blunt kitchen knife. Delightful.

But in all honesty, he just couldn't for the hell of it come up with one single good option. After all it wasn't like he could just walk up to Kurt and say "Hey, dude, just wanted to say I'm sorry, like, for everything. We cool?"

Hell no. He needed to show Kurt that he honestly meant what he said so that the pale boy could forgive him and they could _finally_ start over the way they should've right at the beginning. And maybe, just maybe there was still the possibility of becoming... friends.

Blaine didn't notice how the corners of his lips turned up at the thought. Yeah, being friends with Kurt sounded pretty good to his ears. If he looked past the awkwardness that always welled up inside him when he was confronted with the pale boy he could imagine that there were a lot of interesting things that they could talk about, at least more interesting than with Puck or Finn. Because judging by his way of speaking it seemed like Kurt knew a _lot_ and they probably even had things in common that Blaine didn't know about yet and if Kurt shared his love for music then they could jam together with Puck and Finn and finally not be so tense around each other anymore and... he was getting ahead of himself.

Blaine slumped down onto his bed from where he had been half-sitting up. Defeated. That's how he felt. Why was this whole thing so complicated? And why had everyone in this experiment left him alone? He knew why, but... _Why?_

He felt childish for thinking like this, but he really missed his mom right now. She would've known exactly what to do and she would've comforted him with one of her infamous bear-hugs and a piece of advice. Blaine probably should've expected it, but something that he also missed a lot right now was physical contact. A small touch here and there, maybe a kiss on the cheek, a hug when he left the house... he'd gotten so used to that at home that he hadn't even noticed it anymore most of the time. But now that is was gone... There was something missing.

If only he had gotten his head out of his ass sooner... then he most definitely would've made friends with one of the guys, lived a nice, quiet month with a bunch of friendly people and – most of all – wouldn't have to face all of these stupid problems right now. But now that the problems were there he was left alone to deal with the consequences. And it drove him fucking crazy.

Blaine had never been good at dealing with stress like this. Honestly, it really freaked him out. He'd always been someone to avoid conflict rather that face it. Which – in hidsight – was kind of what brought him to where he was now. Stuck.

There was no way to apologize to Kurt without sounding either like a total asshole (which he was) or incredibly pathetic (which he also was). And without an apology things would just stay weird, he would keep losing weight because of his lack of appetite and Puck would most probably kill him within the next three days.

Right now, Blaine was just tired.

* * *

><p>"Can I come in?"<p>

"...Sure."

Kurt shut the door behind him and turned around to look at Puck who lay face-down on his bed. He frowned when the mohawked boy made no move to sit up or acknowledge him any further. "Are you alright?"

Puck heaved a loud sigh.

"Ah, I see", Kurt said, half-amused, half-serious as he sat down next to his friends on the bed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Puck mumbled into the pillow, then turned his head to look up at Kurt. "Yes."

The pale boy quirked a quizzical eyebrow, but waited for Puck to elaborate.

"I'm just... thinking", the mohawked boy finally got out, sitting up and rubbing his face where it had been pressed against the cotton sheets. "It's complicated."

Kurt hesitated, debating with himself whether or not it would be a good idea to drill further, but eventually his curiosity won.

"Thinking... about Finn?", he asked carefully and apparently hit the bull's eye dead-on. Puck jumped up with a frustrated sigh, effectively turning his back to the pale boy.

"It just doesn't make any sense", he exclaimed and started restlessly pacing around his room, Kurt watching from his spot on the bed. "Finn's straight, dude. He told me about his ex-girlfriend once and they were together for, like, two years or something! Hell, we even talked about how awesome Megan Fox' boobs are. He digs _chicks_ for fuck's sake! Why would he think I'm his LIBN?"

Kurt delicately wrinkled his nose at the crude comment. "You seriously talk about celebrities' _boobs_ when you're alone?"

Puck looked at him like he was crazy. "Of course, what kinda man doesn't- _oh_. Sorry, dude."

Kurt had to laugh at that. "Yeah. I'm more the Taylor Lautner kinda guy."

Puck wrinkled his nose. "Oh fucking hell, please don't tell me you're one of these Twilight teenage girls getting wet for sparkling vampires and shit."

Kurt smirked. "How do _you_ know about Twilight, Mr Sucker Punch and Sin City?"

Puck paused and grumbled something under his breath.

"What was that?", Kurt asked innocently, but the smirk on his face betrayed him.

Puck sighed exasperatedly. "Fine. I have a nine-year-old niece and I can't say 'No' to her."

"Aww", Kurt cooed between giggles. "Big bad uncle Noah watching Twilight with his niece. That's so sweet! Did you also play Barbie castle? I bet you'd make a handsome prince."

Puck glared at him. "Shut up. We're talking about Finn."

Kurt smiled. "Well, I don't know what Finn's thinking, Noah", he said patiently and started tugging on the left sleeve of his sweater. It just wouldn't stay down over his wrist. "Why don't you go and ask _him_ that?"

Puck whipped around to fix Kurt with a wide-eyed look. "_What?_ Are you nuts? I can't just ask him that, dude. It's weird!"

Kurt snorted. "Yeah, because working yourself up over it is so much better", he said sarcastically, but with no real fire behind it. "Come on, Noah. He's been thinking about LIBNs just like you, it's obvious! Now one of you has to take the first step and approach it or you'll never get this sorted out. Do you want that?"

"What kind of question is that?", Puck exclaimed angrily, fixing Kurt with a glare. "Of course not! Stop treating me like I'm five! I can handle this by myself!"

"Apparently you can't", Kurt shot back as he stood up, now irritated as well. "Or you would've done something about it already. But no, you're just sitting here and over-thinking everything."

"You can't tell me what to do!", Puck shouted, taking a menacing step towards Kurt, his muscles tensing in rage, but the pale boy was having none of that.

"Well, someone has to because you clearly don't know what you're doing!"

"Shut up!", Puck yelled, making Kurt flinch at his aggressive tone. "Just... shut up!"

For a few moments they stood there, heavily breathing and staring each other down with fierce eyes. Surprisingly Kurt lowered his gaze first.

"I'm sorry", he said quietly, sounding ashamed. "I didn't mean to push you."

Puck pinched his nose and silently counted to ten, breathing in and out slowly before answering. "No, it's... I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have shouted."

Kurt nodded, accepting his apology. On an unspoken signal they simultaneously slumped down onto Puck's bed with heavy sighs.

"This is so fucking messed up", Puck murmured after a short silence.

"It is", Kurt agreed and turned his head to watch his friend. "Something's bothering you, isn't it?", he asked quietly.

Puck looked at him incredulously. "Are you serious? I just told you-"

"No", Kurt interrupted softly but firmly. "I don't mean that. There's something else."

The mohawked boy just stared at the pale boy for a few seconds before he caved in with a sigh. "Okay, fine. I'm kind of... angry."

"At me?"

Puck rolled his eyes. "No, you idiot. At Finn."

Kurt's brow furrowed in confusion. "What for?"

"Just..." Puck seemed to stumble over the words in his head for a few moments, his mouth opening and closing before he gave up with a frustrated groan. "Just... for being Finn."

The pale boy raised an eyebrow. "And that's a crime because...?"

Puck threw his hands up in exasperation. "Just because! Because he makes me feel weird with all that looking at me and being all crooked smiles and stupid joked and..." He broke himself off when he noticed Kurt smiling at him. "What?"

Kurt's smile grew wider. "Think about what you just said."

Puck went over his words again and frowned. "Your point?"

Kurt shook his head fondly and waved him off. "It's okay, Noah. You just need some more time. You'll figure it out."

"Okay, what the hell are you on about?", Puck snarled. He hated feeling left out.

Kurt held up his hands defensively. "Look, I know you're probably confused as hell right now, but that's normal when you-"

Puck didn't even listen anymore. _Confused? I'm not fucking confused, what is he-_ Oh. _Oh!_ All color drained from Puck's face when he suddenly realized what Kurt was hinting at.

"You think that I'm gay", he blurted in mortification, interrupting Kurt mid-sentence, a horrified expression on his face. When the pale boy just stared back at him with that _look,_ like he knew something that Puck didn't, the mohawked boy shook his head furiously and scooted away from Kurt on the bed. "No, you're wrong! I'm not gay! I can't be! I'd know that!"

What the hell was Kurt thinking? Noah Puckerman wasn't fucking gay! He _couldn't_ be gay, especially not for _Finn_ of all people. That dorky klutz who was so freakishly tall that he blacked out the sun and couldn't tell the difference between an equation and a slice of toast. The boy with his stupid crooked smile and stupid warm eyes and stupid fucking dimples and...

"Fuck!", he cried and hit the headboard in frustration, words just flowing out of his mouth. "Why do I feel this shit? I never even _looked_ at a man twice before! Why can't I stop thinking about his stupid face? Fuck!"

"Noah, _Noah!_ Calm down!", Kurt shouted over Puck's yelling and scooted up the bed to put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Listen, I know that you're upset because this has never happened before, but just... give it a chance, okay?"

Puck breathed heavily through his nose, trying to tamp down the urge to punch something, but didn't argue or look up at Kurt, so the pale boy kept going.

"Look, I don't think that you're gay either because as you put it 'you're a stud'" Despite his situation Puck had to smile slightly at the quote. "and apparently had sex with every girl on this planet at some point in your life. Fine by me. But... I still think that you should consider the possibility of being with Finn." Puck opened his mouth to protest, but Kurt shushed him. "No, listen. I think that sexuality is something everyone has to come to terms with by themselves, so I won't force you into doubting who you are, mostly because, well, maybe I'm wrong altogether." Kurt gripped Puck's arm with a serious look on his face. "But I want you to know that I'll always be there for you. So if you have questions or need help with anything – _anything_ –, just come to me and ask, okay? I won't judge you or – god forbid – tell Finn or even Blaine. I just... I'd feel better knowing that you know that you're not alone in this. Can you please promise me to do that?"

Puck seemed lost in thought for a minute or two, his expression unreadable, before he finally looked up to meet Kurt's soft gaze.

"Okay", he agreed quietly and after a moment's hesitation moved forward into the pale boy's outstretched arms to be engulfed in a warm hug, burying his face in Kurt's shoulder.

What? Even Puckzilla needs comfort every once in a while!

They would've been content just sitting there for a little while longer in their comfortable silence, but a sudden thought made Puck speak up."Kurt?"

"Yes, Noah?"

"How tall is Finn exactly?"

Kurt's brow furrowed. "Um... I don't know. Tall?", he answered slowly, sceptically. "Why?"

"He's taller than me", Puck mumbled into the pale boy's shoulder.

"I'm aware", Kurt deadpanned and the other boy could literally _hear_ the raised eyebrow in his tone of voice. "Is this going somewhere, Noah?"

Puck's nose crinkled in distaste. "Well, it sucks! If we were together I'd have to be the chick 'cause I'm smaller!"

Of course. God bless Puck's logic.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "That's not how it works, Noah."

Puck grinned. "Oh yeah? Like with you and Anderson?"

Kurt stiffened in their embrace, not liking where this was going. "What?"

Puck's grin quickly morphed into a smug smirk even though the pale boy couldn't see it. "Well, you're taller, but you'd also be the chick."

Kurt tried to pull away indignantly, but was restrained by Puck's still firm grip, so he settled for hitting the taller boy's chest. "You jerk! I'm not a girl!"

"But you're a bottom bitch."

"Oh my God!", Kurt groaned and buried his red face in Puck' shoulder in embarrassment. "I'm not, Noah. Stop it!"

"So you'd want to top?", the other boy asked, having way too much fun making Kurt blush to just 'stop'. "I don't know if Anderson would be down with that though, I mean he's kind of a prude. But then again the innocent ones also have the most perverted kinks... like for example I fucked this minx at a library and I mean _damn,_ man! You see, she had this thing that she put..."

"_Noah!_", Kurt shouted, pulling away far enough so that Puck could see his now cherry red face glaring angrily at him. "I swear to God if you don't stop now I will cut off your balls and feed them to you."

"Whatever." Puck just shrugged at the threat, but at least pulled away from Kurt, stretching his arms over his head as the pale boy quickly put some distance between them. He looked at Kurt seriously. "But thanks, man. I mean for the talk. I needed that."

"Don't mention it", Kurt replied casually, still looking quite flustered, and stood up to walk over to the doorway. "But after _that_ I seriously need a midnight snack. Are you up for that?"

Puck was on his feet in less than a second, pumping a fist in the air. "Fuck, yes, princess! I knew I liked you for a reason!"

Kurt grinned to himself and was just about to cross the hallway when suddenly a loud noise made him stop in his tracks.

"What the-?"

Puck halted as well, turning towards the front door, an incredulous look on his face. "Is that the doorbell?"

Kurt nodded slightly in confusion. "I think so."

Puck frowned and marched over to the door, Kurt hot on his heels. "Who on earth-" He grabbed the handle and ripped the door open, revealing two men in white coats. Scientists. "What do you want?", Puck snapped rudely which didn't seem to faze the strangers at all.

"Good evening Mr Puckerman, Mr Hummel", one of them greeted formally. "We need you to let us in for a minute, please. We won't bother you for long."

"I'm sorry, but... Is there a problem, Sir?", Kurt asked as he stepped forward from where he stood behind Puck, sounding slightly worried. What could possibly be a reason for them to come here in person?

The other scientist spoke up, his tone much colder than the other man's. "We're here to retrieve Mr Blaine Anderson."

Puck frowned at the scientist, instinctively blocking the door when the man wanted to enter. He didn't trust this guy one bit. "What do you want from him? He seemed to be okay when I last saw him."

Kurt paled and turned towards the living room, almost expecting to see Blaine there. "Oh my God, is he hurt? Did he do something stupid?"

The first scientist looked at Kurt sympathetically, almost as if he knew why the pale boy was so upset about this.

_Of course_, Kurt realized with a start. _He must be one of the doctors who monitored us. He knows that Blaine is my LIBN._

He almost didn't catch what the man said next, lost in thought. "I'm sorry Mr Hummel." The apologetic tone of his voice made Kurt's throat close up with a sense of foreboding. "But unfortunately Mr Anderson is no longer seen suitable for the project."

"What?", Kurt exclaimed, flabbergasted. "Why not? What happened?"

The scientist sighed, gesturing towards the kitchen. "Why don't you go and see for yourself?"

He barely got to finish his sentence before the pale boy was off, storming into the kitchen at an alarmed speed, Puck following like a shadow. The door crashed against the wall behind it as Kurt pushed it open and marched in just to stop dead in his tracks, his breath hitching in his throat.

"B-Blaine?"

* * *

><p><strong>Don't kill me, please?<br>****I know, I'm so damn mean. First I leave you hanging for almost two months (shame on me...) and now I leave you with this cliffhanger... But, please, bear with me. It gets better. And I promise, the next chapter will be more Klaine centered than the last ones, but I need to get this Finn/Puck thing going because it's essential for the Klaine storyline. I don't really know where exactly this is going or how it's going to end yet, so I'm open for suggestions :) I hope that I'll have more time and inspiration so I can write the next chapter faster, but unfortunately I can't promise anything. :(  
><strong>**Still, I love you all! Thanks for reading and reviewing! You're the best! :)**


	10. Break me down

**Faster update than before, yeyy! :D Are y'all proud of me now? Haha, no but seriously, I'm glad that I got this one out faster, I feel kinda bad for the cliffhanger even though it was necessary. I hope that you can forgive me in due time :) So, without further ado, I present to you the one and only tenth chapter of Chemistry. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chemistry<strong>

**Ch.10 – Break me down**

The door crashed against the wall behind it as Kurt pushed it open and marched in just to stop dead in his tracks, his breath hitching in his throat.

"B-Blaine?"

At the sound of his name the curly haired man looked up from where he was spread out on the floor like a starfish, his hair tousled and gaze unfocused. "Kurr?", he slurred, his head lolling around as if he was trying to determine where the pale boy was. "S'too dark", he grunted in a low voice, putting a hand to his forehead and squeezing his eyes firmly shut as if in pain.

Puck stepped past Kurt to get a look as well. "Fuck, Anderson", he exclaimed as soon as he caught sight of said boy. "What did you do?"

Blaine didn't seem to hear him at all. He just continued whimpering pitifully. "Hurts."

That was enough to rip Kurt from his daze.

"Oh my God, Blaine!", he shouted and rushed forward to fall on his knees next to the curly haired boy. "Shit, are you okay? What happened? Where does it hurt?"

Blaine seemed deep in thought for a minute before he answered very slowly. "Dunno. Juss happn'd."

"Wha- _Blaine!_ What are you doing?", Kurt shouted frantically when the curly-haired boy tried to push himself up into a sitting position, quite unsuccessfully. "Stay down! We don't know what's wrong with you! You could have serious injuries!"

Blaine ignored him, trying to swat Kurt's hands away. "M'fine."

"No you're not", Kurt shrieked with wide, wet eyes, nearly in hysterics. "You- you need to... I don't know what..._ Why aren't you doing anything?_", he suddenly screamed at the scientists who still stood in the door, watching the scene unfold. "Something's wrong with him! Help him!"

"Um... Kurt?", Puck tried to interrupt, but Kurt didn't want to listen.

"Blaine," he pleaded with the curly-haired boy. "_Blaine_, come on, please. Don't move around so much, you don't-"

"Kurrt", Blaine suddenly giggled as his too-bright eyes focused on Kurt's, a dopey grin spreading on his face. "Kurrt! Your eyes're... like... rrreally blue." And then he cracked up like he'd just made the joke of the century.

"Oh my God, he must've hit his head", Kurt squealed in horror. "He's totally out of it! What if he has a concussion?"

"Kurt!" Puck still tried to get the pale boy's attention, but was ignored as Kurt touched his hand to Blaine's sweaty forehead.

"Shit! He's burning up too! What does that mean? It it bad?"

"Kurt! Listen to me!", Puck finally shouted and said boy whipped around.

"What?", he snapped anxiously, his eyes still wide with concern.

"Calm down, will you? He's not sick", the mohawked boy said, looking more than a little amused for some reason. Kurt was about to snap at him because _this was not funny_ when he suddenly noticed the empty bottle of what looked like Vodka in Puck's hand.

"I- what?", he asked, confused.

Puck chuckled and shook the bottle a little so that the remaining drops splashed around inside. "Concussion my ass. Wonderboy here just can't hold his liquor, that's all." At Kurt's stunned look Puck rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Oh come on, princess. That's not really a surprise, is it? I mean, just look at his height! He's a fucking hobbit."

Kurt was honestly speechless. He turned his baffled gaze back to the curly-haired boy who was now trying to pull himself to his feet over at the kitchen counter. "Blaine. Are you... Are you drunk?"

"Drink's good", Blaine slurred in response, flashing Kurt a toothy grin that seemed far too wide to be healthy. Then he turned green.

"Oh shit, no", Kurt mumbled and dragged the other man to his feet and over to the sink. He turned away as soon as the retching noises started, wrinkling his nose. He had always hated that sound.

Puck laughed loudly and clapped Blaine on his back, making the boy wince. "Damn, I do not envy you, man. That's gonna be one hell of a hangover."

Kurt looked at him incredulously. "You think this is _funny?_"

Puck shrugged, a huge grin still splitting his face. "Yeah, pretty much."

Kurt frowned and was about to reply indignantly on Blaine's behalf, but startled instead when one of the scientists suddenly cleared his throat. "Well, thank you Mr Hummel, Mr Puckerman. I think we'll take it from here."

Kurt glared at him. "Well, look who's decided to join the party," he said sarcastically as he rubbed Blaine's heaving back in comfort. He remembered how his mom had always done that for him when he got sick as a kid. "What do you mean 'take it from here'? What's going to happen now?"

"Well Mr Hummel", the scientist said in what Kurt assumed was his business voice. "Seeing as Mr Anderson has violated our company rules we will have to withdraw him from the experiment. He's no longer a valid contestant."

"I'm sorry _Sir,_ but what rule exactly are you referring to?", Kurt asked snappishly, not quite sure why he was so angry at the man.

The scientist sighed. "Mr Hummel. I'm sure you remember that in the sign up questionnaire for this experiment you had to answer a few questions referring to drugs and alcohol of any sorts, especially if you have been clean for at least three years." At Kurt's brief nod the scientist continued. "You see, to get proper test results only people without any addiction – past or present – are allowed in the experiment. And Mr Anderson's behavior just now..."

"Okay, hold on a second", Kurt interrupted and stopped in wetting a paper towel to wipe the curly-haired boy's mouth with to fix the scientist with an incredulous look. "You think that because he got drunk _once_ Blaine is an alcoholic all of the sudden? I never saw him drink before now! Why would you pull him out of the experiment?"

"Well, we don't have any knowledge of his past with drugs before these three required years", the scientist argued. "For all we know it could always happen again and the supervisors see it as our obligation to prevent that."

"Then why don't you just take the alcohol you stored in the house and put _that_ away!", Kurt exclaimed indignantly, still fussing over Blaine who had slumped down onto a kitchen chair with a pained groan, looking far beyond exhausted. "I don't even know why you put that there in the first place."

"But Mr Anderson-"

"I'll have an eye on him", Kurt interrupted harshly, surprising even himself. Why was he being so protective? "I'll make sure that he stays away from drugs of any sort. Assuming that he's an alcoholic is just ridiculous."

"But-"

"Please", Kurt said, now slightly pleading. "He won't pull anything like that again. I promise."

For a few minutes the scientists seemed to ponder his proposal, then one of them nodded slowly. "Fine." Kurt let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. "But you will be held responsible if anything goes wrong. At the next violation he's out."

The pale boy nodded gratefully and the scientists left with a formal goodbye, closing the door behind them. Kurt sighed heavily and turned towards the sink to wet another towel, but was faced with an angry looking Puck instead.

"What the hell was that?", the mohawked boy asked loudly, stepping forward.

Kurt instinctively took a step back. "What do you mean?", he asked in response, confused.

"Don't play dumb with me!", Puck growled and pointed at Blaine. "Why did you help him out? That was your chance to get revenge for the way he treated you and you just blew it!"

Kurt couldn't believe his ears. "Excuse me? I won't let him be taken away for something as stupid as getting drunk!"

"So you're just gonna let him stay here when all he does is hurt you?", Puck asked incredulously, shaking his head. "You can't be serious."

"What", Kurt snapped irritatedly. "He can't be all bad. Besides it would just be mean to make him leave for a little mistake."

Puck growled. "Stop."

Kurt's brow furrowed angrily. "Stop _what_, Noah?"

"Stop making excuses for him!", Puck exclaimed, gesturing at the wreck that was Blaine on the chair. "_'He can't be all bad.'_ That's bullshit and you know it. He's an arrogant, homophobic bastard and after all the shit he pulled on you he doesn't deserve your help."

"Well, he's also my LIBN", Kurt hissed sharply under his breath so that Blaine wouldn't hear him. Not that he thought that the curly-haired boy would remember anything of this in the morning, but that was beside the point. "You may not care enough about this project to actively make a move on Finn, but_ I_ won't waste my chance at happiness, thank you very much."

He regretted his choice of words the second it left his mouth.

Puck looked like he'd been slapped, his mouth agape in disbelief. For a few seconds the two boys just stared at each other silently, Blaine's quiet groans the only sound in the room. Puck was the first to snap out of it, his mouth transforming into a snarl as he hissed at Kurt angrily, a betrayed look on his face. "You know what? Fine. _Fine_. I'm gonna go to my room." With that he turned around and left, his back stiff and hands clenched to fists at his sides.

Kurt watched him go, feeling guilty. Admittedly that comment had been low, but he honestly hadn't meant to make it sound like he blamed Puck for being unsure about his feelings for Finn. He'd apologize first thing in the morning after the mohawked boy had had a chance to cool off a bit.

A sudden cough pulled Kurt from his train of thoughts. He turned around to face Blaine whose usually tan skin had taken on a sickly pale color now.

Kurt sighed and grabbed the smaller boy under his armpits to hoist him up onto his feet. "C'mon. I'll get you to your room."

Blaine was silent as he let himself be manhandled across the hall, but his astonished eyes never left Kurt's. At first the pale boy tried to ignore it, but seeing that staring made him uncomfortable ever since his high school experiences he couldn't stand it for long.

"What?", he snapped, slightly annoyed, and looked down at the smaller boy. "Is there something on my face?"

"You'rr... why?", Blaine slurred, sounding confused.

"Um, because you've been staring at me for the past minute?", Kurt asked slowly, afraid that Blaine was too far gone to understand him anymore. "It was a rhetorical question."

"No- Not that", Blaine said, his eyes still fixed on Kurt. "I mean... why?"

Okay, this was getting really annoying now.

"Why _what,_ Blaine?", Kurt retorted sharply, one eyebrow raised.

"Why arrn't you goin with Puck?", Blaine asked, his eyes more earnest than the pale boy had ever seen them, the hazel boring right into his core. Kurt suddenly had to avert his gaze.

"I, um..." He couldn't concentrate with Blaine's gaze burning into him. "...Because you can barely stand up on your own right now", he answered eventually, carefully. "And whether you like it or not, I'm the only one around to help, so... Here I am." He chuckled slightly in embarrassment, then cleared his throat nervously.

Blaine just kept staring at him like he'd never seen him before and another thought suddenly struck Kurt that made him push the curly haired boy away to arm's length to bring more distance between them. "Look, I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable to be around me, but you need help right now and-"

"You chose me", Blaine suddenly interrupted him with wonder in his voice, looking much more sober than just a moment ago. "Over him. Y-you chose... I-" He choked and fell silent, seemingly speechless, and just kept looking at Kurt, his eyes slowly filling with tears.

Oh shit.

Feeling kind of helpless in not knowing what to make of the situation the pale boy rubbed Blaine's shoulder awkwardly, keeping his distance but still trying to comfort him. "Shh... Hey, it's fine. You're fine." When Blaine didn't respond at all he tried to gently steer him towards his room again, still cooing softly. "Come on, we'll get you to bed and-"

He cut himself off when Blaine suddenly let out a loud sob. Kurt barely had a moment to adjust to the turn in events before his arms were full of boy and a face pressed hard into the crook of his neck.

"Fuck, Kurt, I can't- I...", Blaine sobbed into his shoulder, over and over, as he clung to Kurt's middle like his life depended on it. "I, just- oh God, Kurt!"

The pale boy stood there, his mind blank, rendered speechless by Blaine's sudden outburst. What the actual fuck was happening?

"Blaine", the pale boy tried to speak up, his whole body stiff in the curly-haired boy's hold. "Geez, Blaine, calm down! You're choking me."

"Please", Blaine hiccuped and Kurt's heart clenched at the sound of it. "Jus- please... I- I dunno how... I can't... but I want to", he stammered and looked up at Kurt, his eyes bright with tears and looking so lost that the pale boy felt his posture softening and his own arms snaking around Blaine's back to squeeze comfortingly.

"Shh", he cooed quietly, rocking back and forth as the other boy cried into his shoulder. "Shh, it's alright."

"No", Blaine wailed and tightened his hold even further, something Kurt would have thought impossible a second ago. "Nothing's alright! You're just... I'm so stupid and s- so mean to you all the time and then you... you just... You shouldn't! You should just hate me forever and maybe you do and that's my fault but... but you're still helping me and- I just... I can't."

Kurt's head spun with how confusing this whole thing was. "Blaine, calm down." The smaller boy shook his head. "Come on, Blaine. Deep breaths, okay? For me. Please." Blaine trembled slightly, but he still took a deep breath just as Kurt said, letting it out shakily. The pale boy had to suppress a shudder when the warm air brushed his neck. "Thank you. Now, please tell me what's bothering you? Slowly?"

"I... I'm-", Blaine started, but stopped when he suddenly stiffened in Kurt's arms.

"Blaine?", the pale boy asked, alarmed. "What's wrong?"

"I don' feel good", the curly-haired boy mumbled, his forehead starting to sweat where it was pressed against Kurt's neck.

"Oh fuck." The pale boy practically threw Blaine across the hall and into the bathroom where the smaller boy emptied his stomach strepitously once more, tears still streaming down his face as Kurt petted his hair.

When Blaine was done the pale boy gently wiped his face off and assisted him in brushing his teeth to get rid of the foul taste, fetching a bucket to put beside the curly-haired boy's bed in case he got sick again during the night.

"You shouldn't do this", Blaine mumbled, exhaustion written all over his face as Kurt half-carried him over to his room.

"Do what?", the pale boy asked, his tone softer than before.

"Help me."

Kurt scoffed. "Yeah right. As if I'd ever leave someone like this."

"Still", Blaine insisted, his eyelids drooping against his fight to keep them open. "You shouldn't. I don't deserve it."

"You can't even walk on your own right now, Blaine."

"But... but I was so awful to you! How can you not hate me?", the curly-haired boy asked, his eyes wide with honesty.

Kurt hesitated for a moment. This wasn't a conversation he wanted to have when the other boy was drunk off his ass... but then again he probably wouldn't get a chance to say this otherwise. He took a deep breath to steady himself, then answered. "I never hated you, Blaine."

The curly-haired boy silently looked him in the eye for a few minutes before he spoke again, voice heavy with... something. Maybe remorse. "I'm really sorry, Kurt."

There it was. The apology Kurt had been waiting for for so long.

Kurt couldn't decide whether he should laugh or cry at how stupid this whole situation was because a) Blaine would most certainly not remember a thing about this in the morning with the amount of alcohol in his system and b) he probably wouldn't have even _thought_ about apologizing if he were sober right now, so this could barely count as a real apology anyway. Kurt wouldn't have thought that it'd hurt this much, but it did. It really did.

_Apparently the only way Blaine can talk to me like decent human being is when he's wasted and in need for comfort. Great. Just great._

Kurt closed his eyes and willed the tears away, praying to some deity he didn't believe in that Blaine would fall asleep soon so he could bury himself into his own pillows and have a proper break-down. Unfortunately the other boy didn't seem to be finished yet for he started rambling again.

"I'm really, really sorry Kurt. I'm sorry for everything I did to you and I regret calling you what I called you, and more than anything I'm sorry for saying that I don't like you because you're so nice to everyone and you're probably really cool to hang out with and we could be friends right now if I weren't so stupid. And then I wouldn't be drunk and you wouldn't have to help me and see me like this because this is so embarrassing and you're way too helpful and good for this world, Kurt." Blaine's speech was sagging more and more towards the end, sleep starting to cloud his mind and making it hard for his eyes to stay open, but he still looked up at the pale boy, determined to finally make this right.

Kurt didn't feel the tears on his cheeks, too focused on what Blaine was saying. This was by no means the apology that he had expected – if he had even expected one at all anymore – and the circumstances were less than acceptable, but he had to admit that he was strangely touched. It was only now that Blaine had apologized that he realized just how much he had ached for this. To see that the other boy regretted his actions to some extent. That he wasn't like his other bullies.

"Thank you, Blaine", he finally said with a scratchy voice. "I mean it. Thank you."

Blaine smiled then, wide and relieved, and even though his face was still slightly pale and sweaty Kurt thought that the curly-haired boy looked breathtakingly beautiful like this, maybe because this was actually the first time that Blaine smiled at _him_.

But as suddenly as it had come the smile disappeared from the curly-haired boy's face and a sad frown took its place. Kurt found himself almost wanting to kiss it away before he slapped himself internally. _Bad Kurt. He's straight. Straight, straight, straight._

"Kurt?", Blaine's whisper caught the pale boy's attention again.

"Yes Blaine?"

"I just..." The smaller boy started nervously fiddling with his shirt, seemingly unable to look Kurt in the eye anymore which was more than weird after all the staring he'd done this evening. "Can you... I mean, do you think you could... maybe, like- like someday... or-"

"Just spit it out, Blaine", Kurt cut in, sounding almost as edgy as the other boy.

Blaine blushed. "Right, uh... Do- do you think you maybe could... someday... like, f-forgive me?"

Kurt blanched. _Oh._

"I, um...", he stammered, wringing his hands together, eyes darting around the room to avoid Blaine's face. "I..."

"It's okay", the smaller boy hastily interrupted. "I didn't expect... like, now... but, maybe someday?" He sounded so hopeful that there was really only one way Kurt could answer.

"I... yes", the pale boy said and realized in the second that the words left his mouth that 'someday' wouldn't be necessary. If he wanted to or not, he'd already forgiven Blaine back when he'd heard him sing 'Teenage Dream' in Puck's room. When he looked at Blaine now he didn't feel resentment or even apprehension anymore. Only... that _feeling_ that he still refused to address directly because it would make everything way too real.

Kurt turned towards the smaller boy who was still staring at him expectantly and looked him deep in the eye, silently willing him to remember this the next morning.

"I forgive you, Blaine."

The curly-haired boy closed his eyes, breathing in slowly and seeming so savor the moment before he looked up again, his eyes shining with an emotion Kurt couldn't quite place. "Thank you."

Kurt only nodded in response because under this gaze he felt like he couldn't speak if he tried. Blaine closed his eyes again and tucked his comforter tighter around himself, a contented sigh escaping him as he let his breaths even out. Moments later he was asleep.

When Kurt finally found the strength to detach his eyes from the peaceful look on the other boy's sleeping face he quietly snuck off to his own room. He closed the door soundlessly behind him and immediately sunk to the floor, his back against the wall and face in his hands when the reality of what just happened hit him like a brick on the head.

He knew now that Blaine wanted to apologize. The question was, did the curly-haired boy know it too or was what just happened only his subconscious talking. And if that was the case, was _Kurt_ supposed to make the first step? Or should he wait until Blaine came to his own conclusions?

It was far too late to think about stuff like this now. Kurt picked himself up off the floor and let himself fall heavily onto his bed without even bothering to remove his clothes (and _that_ was saying something), thoughts full of foreboding racing through his head in a turmoil that just _Wouldn't. Shut. Up_.

_What if he doesn't remember anything in the morning?_, his brain shouted at him. _Did he even mean what he said? How am I supposed to act around him after this?_

Kurt groaned and let his head thunk back against the headboard. He was sure that he wouldn't be able to sort all of this out without a friend to talk to and was about to get up and go over to Puck's room when he guiltily remembered that there still was this stupid fight-thing between them, so that was out of the question. Besides Puck would probably not be the best choice for talking about gay romance while he was still struggling with his own orientation problems.

Kurt sighed heavily and turned over onto his side, staring at the naked wall without really seeing it. He had realized two things today. One, Blaine was obviously eating himself up over something or he wouldn't have gotten drunk in the first place (Kurt thought that maybe, just _maybe_, it was Blaine's guilt about how he'd treated the pale boy that made him do it, but that would be a little too self-complacent) and two, although Blaine was an asshole sometimes, he probably felt a deeper connection to Kurt than he let on. The look that Blaine had given Kurt just before he fell asleep still stood clearly in front of the pale boy's eyes. He just couldn't seem to make sense of it. It had seemed honestly grateful, immensely relieved and – if Kurt hadn't imagined it – maybe even a little tiny bit... affectionate?

Kurt shook his head angrily at his train of thoughts. What the hell was he thinking, acting like a stupid school girl with a crush. He was reading way too much into everything. And what was even worse was that... he didn't want to stop. Oh, who was he kidding, he couldn't deny his attraction to Blaine any more than he could deny his love for fashion.

Kurt sighed as he tucked himself in for what was sure to be a sleepless night, pulling his pillow over his head as soon as he turned the light on his nightstand out.

He was falling for Blaine. And he was falling fast.

* * *

><p><strong>So, that happened :) I hope you don't hate me too much for the cliffhanger in the last chapter, but I wanted to spice this story up a bit after what felt like tons of filler chapters. And now, FINALLY, the apology! Not that this is gonna be the end of it just like that, nuh-uh ;) I'm way too evil to just let Blaine off the hook with a drunk "I'm sorry", no matter how honest he was about it. Soo, lots of people asked for Klaine development and now I finally made some progress ;) I hope you're happy with it for now! Please leave a review, they always make my day :) Love you!<strong>


	11. Let's get this over with

**Sorry for the super-late update, but seriously, my schedule is hell right now. I have tons of exams, Christmas-hysteria all around and to top it off I now officially have a surgery coming up in January :( Nothing too serious, but it still threw me off a little... By the way, does it snow wherever you live right now? Because Germany is basically _buried_ in snow. And it's cold as hell, getting colder every day. I just hope it won't be as bad as last year because let me tell you, that was one _tough_ winter... On the upside we'll maybe have a white Christmas this year, yey! :D Okay, I'm really off topic now, sorry... Well, anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Love you all!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chemistry<strong>

**Ch.11 – Let's get this over with**

The next morning Blaine woke up to his head splitting open.

"Oh my God", he whimpered pathetically, wincing at the sound of his own voice that seemed scratchy and far too loud to his ears. A high-pitched whine tore from his throat as he clutched his curls, trying to keep his head together. For hell's sake, the _pain!_

"Here", a voice whispered to his right, startling him. Blaine opened his eyes the tiniest bit against the darkness to see a glass of water and two Tylenol directly in front of his face.

Sitting up proved to be the most difficult task he ever had to master until a hand grabbed his arm and helped him up, steadying him against the headboard with a fluffy pillow. Blaine's eyes didn't open as someone put the glass to his lips and pushed the pills into his right hand.

"You can open your eyes, you know", the voice murmured quietly, mindful of his oversensitive hearing. "I put a candle on your nightstand so I wouldn't have to use the down lights. It should be dark enough."

Blaine trusted the voice. He squinted a little and – once he found out that that was just fine – opened his eyes as far as he dared to take his Tylenol. His nose scrunched up a bit at the taste and he hurried to flush it down with water. Even if you had to do it fairly regularly due to work-induced headaches taking pills was just gross.

"Thanks", he mumbled as he handed the glass back to the person next to his bed. He couldn't see their face, but he was pretty sure that there was only one boy in this house who would offer to help him at what was sure to be an ungodly hour. His stomach plummeted when he quickly came to a conclusion.

"Uh... Kurt?", he asked timidly and the answering "Yes?" made him shrink back even deeper into his pillow. _Oh God no._

Blaine could barely suppress a groan of frustration. Of all the times where he could have faced Kurt again it just _had_ to be like this, with a killer headache and no memory of how he even got into his bed, right? Right.

_Just fucking typical._

"What happened?", he asked in an even quieter voice than before, almost afraid of the answer.

Kurt sighed. "I don't know how much you remember of this, but um..." Kurt couldn't seem to find the right words which didn't do much to reassure Blaine. "You, uh... well, for some reason you got really drunk in the kitchen last night, so... well, basically some scientists showed up to take you away because they thought you were some sort of anonymous alcoholic."

"Oh my God, just kill me now", Blaine groaned, hiding his face in his hands in embarrassment. Then he realized something that made him look back up. "Wait. They came to get me? Why didn't they?"

For some reason Kurt turned his head away at that. "They took the alcohol instead", he said calmly, but his voice had an undertone that Blaine couldn't place.

"Oh", the smaller boy said dumbly and brought a hand to his head when another spike of pain raced up his temples. "Ow!"

He jumped when a soothing hand started rubbing circles into his shoulder. His back stiffened reflexively and the hand stopped before pulling away. "Sorry", he heard Kurt mumble.

Blaine felt his heart twanging at the barely hidden sadness in Kurt's voice, the guilt returning as if it never left. Even now when the other boy was going out of his way to help him Blaine still managed to hurt his feelings. God, he was such an asshole.

Kurt moved to stand up and Blaine felt himself panicking, grabbing the other boy's arm. He couldn't let him leave. God only knew when he'd get a hold of Kurt like this the next time, without Puck or Finn and in a quiet place where they could talk without being disturbed. This was his chance – maybe his _only_ chance – to apologize, before he could make matters even worse.

"N-no, don't go, it's...", he started hectically, but stopped again to swallow heavily. Now or never. He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself before hopefully looking the other boy directly in the eye (he couldn't quite make out his face in the dark). "There's something I need to tell you."

Blaine held his breath in the small silence that followed until the other boy finally spoke. "What is it, Blaine?"

The smaller boy breathed out heavily, his grip on Kurt's arm tightening. This was it. "Kurt. I'm s-"

_Bam!_

He let go of Kurt like he'd been burned when the door suddenly slammed open with a sound like a gunshot, the painful flash of light making him hide his eyes behind his hands with a yelp.

"Morning, Blainers!" Puck's voice boomed through the room cheerily. It sounded like thunder.

"Noah!", Kurt hissed, still somewhat quietly, with a concerned look at Blaine. "God, just... close the door, will you?"

Puck scoffed, but did as he was asked. "Anything for my little hobbit friend", he said mockingly in unaltered volume, making Blaine cringe. Puck smirked when he saw it. "Oh, oops, silly me!", he exclaimed loudly, slapping a palm to his forehead with exaggerated force. "I totally forgot! I'm sorry, Blainers. You must have the hangover of the century right now." He chuckled as he plopped down next to the smaller boy on the bed, roughly clapping him on the shoulder. "I mean, seriously, man. What's up with that? You're far too small to hold that much Vodka!"

"M'not that small", Blaine mumbled into his hands sheepishly, feeling like screaming at the whole world. He'd been about to do it! Like,_ really_ do it. And now – just like that – the moment was gone and he was back to square one. Fuck you too, universe!

Puck laughed full-heartedly at his denial. "Yeah, right. Keep telling yourself that."

"Um, Noah?", Kurt spoke up, sounding just a little bit annoyed. "I'm not trying to be rude, but what exactly are you doing here?"

Puck touched a hand to his heart in mock offense. "Ouch! Geez, princess, your mistrust really hurts my feelings, wow!"

"Noah", Kurt murmured lowly with a side-glance at Blaine. It sounded like a warning.

Puck raised his hands in defense. "What? Can't a friend check up on another friend without having an ulterior motive? I mean, you're here too, right? _Friend?_" He gave Kurt a meaningful look.

Kurt's eyes narrowed, whispering quietly to Puck. If Blaine's hearing hadn't been so intensely tuned he probably wouldn't have heard it. "You're not here to check up on Blaine, are you?"

Puck growled back just as quietly. "Damn right I'm not." Then in his loud, cheery tone. "So, Anderson, I was wondering how much exactly you remember about yesterday. I'm guessing not too many details, am I right?"

"Noah", Kurt scolded, but Puck stubbornly ignored him.

"Um, yeah", Blaine admitted lamely. What more could he say to that, really?

Puck chuckled. "Figures. You were more wasted than Amy Winehouse and Paris Hilton drinking into one stomach last night."

"But Kurt told me about the scientists and everything," Blaine was quick to add, not wanting to give Puck the satisfaction of being superior.

"Oh he did, didn't he?", the mohawked boy said in mock amusement.

"Noah, please", Kurt begged, his eyes darting between Puck and Blaine rapidly. "Don't."

"Don't what, princess?", Puck asked somewhat challenging as he turned towards Kurt. "I'm just having a chat with my good ol' pal, ain't that right, Blainers?"

"Stop", Kurt hissed, leaning forward to look directly at Puck with a stern gaze. "I know what you're doing. Just stop it."

Puck scoffed and crossed his arms while Blaine frowned. He didn't like the sound of this at all. "What happened, Kurt?"

The pale boy's head whipped around towards him. "What do you mean?", Kurt asked back quickly. Too quickly.

"Well, obviously there's something that you don't want me to know about yesterday," Blaine reasoned, lowering his voice and massaging his forehead with one hand when his temples started to throb again. "So I must've done something. What was it?"

He might have sounded collected, but internally his thoughts were all over the place.

_Shit, I must've insulted him! Or yelled at him. Or- fuck, what if I threatened him? But, no, I'd remember tha- would I? Oh God, I didn't hurt him physically, right? No, no I wouldn't do that. I'd never, not in a hundred years... But what if I did? Oh my-_

"_You_ didn't do anything", Puck interrupted his thoughts, the fake cheeriness gone from his voice. "It's more what porcelain did that you should worry about."

Blaine's clouded brain took a moment to connect the strange nickname to a person, but when he did his head whipped around towards the other boy. "Kurt?"

There was no answer, but Blaine could've sworn that he saw Kurt lower his head in what looked like embarrassment. Okay, so shit just got serious.

"What did you do?", Blaine asked suspiciously. Kurt opened his mouth, but Puck cut him off before he could answer.

"Saved you ass, that's what he did. You wouldn't be here anymore if it weren't for him."

"Noah-", Kurt hissed frantically, but Puck just waved him off.

"Yeah, sure, I'll leave you two alone now. Thank me later", he smirked and fled the room before either of the other boys could say anything.

The silence was awkward.

"What does he mean, Kurt?", Blaine asked in a timid voice, not sure what to expect. "He said you 'saved' me. How?"

Kurt just shook his head. "It was nothing."

"Well, it can't be nothing if even Puck wants me to know it", Blaine pressed further. "Just tell me, Kurt. I really want to know."

"Okay, you know what? Fine. I'll tell you", Kurt suddenly exclaimed, now looking directly at Blaine with an unreadable expression. "The scientists wanted to pull you out of the experiment for good, but I convinced them not to on the condition of me being responsible for you not acting out again. Puck didn't like the idea because he thinks you're an asshole, but I still went through with it. There, now you know."

Blaine blinked. _What?_ "So you... vouched for me?" And wow, knowing that made him feel better than he cared to admit to himself.

Kurt nodded jerkily. "You can put it that way, yes." He stood up before Blaine could respond in any way. "So, as fun as this was, I have to go make lunch now. You can join us later if you get hungry", he said and turned around towards the door.

Blaine's thoughts were doing somersaults with the possibility of _Kurt still wants me to stay here_. He felt like had to do something, _anything_ to make this okay, so he did the only thing that came to his mind in this situation.

"I'm sorry!"

Kurt immediately froze on his way to the door and Blaine had to fight the urge to slap his hands over his mouth when he realized what he'd just blurted out.

_Oh shit, I'm screwed._

He swallowed heavily around the lump of nervousness that had just formed in his throat before he felt brave enough to continue.

"I-I'm truly sorry, Kurt. I shouldn't have done any of those things I've done or said the things I've said to you." Blaine almost cringed at how lame it sounded when he said it out loud. Fuck, this was going to be the worst apology ever. "Honestly, I don't even know why I did it, but that's no excuse and I understand if you hate me and don't want anything to do with me", Blaine babbled. Kurt had turned back around at some point and was now looking at him with a stony face that wasn't exactly encouraging. But the words were out now and Blaine seriously had to get this off his chest. "I think you're a really great person and I just... I don't want you to think of me as the asshole that I probably am to you after all of this. So, basically... well, what I'm trying to say is that I'd like to start over. If you'll let me. Please."

Blaine bit his lip in the tense silence that followed.

_Oh God, he totally hates me, I mean why wouldn't he, if I were him I'd just loathe me for the rest of my life and-_

He startled from his thoughts when Kurt suddenly started chuckling. _Chuckling_. Why the hell was he chuckling?

"Well, I have to admit", Kurt said with a small shake of his head. "I'm a little disappointed." He smirked when he saw the curly-haired boy's devastated look. "Your sober apologies are really not any better than you drunken ones."

Blaine's brow furrowed in confusion until realization dawned on him and his eyes widened. _Oh fuck no._

"I didn't", he said monotonously.

"Yes you did", Kurt smiled, amusement dancing in his eyes as he watched Blaine face-palm with an embarrassed groan.

"Shit, why?", the curly-haired boy whined into his hands before he looked up at Kurt with an apologetic expression. It kind of made him look like a puppy. "Gosh, I'm such an ass. I'm so sorry, Kurt."

The pale boy shrugged with a small smile. "Don't worry about it. In fact, it was kind of cute."

Blaine's heart skipped a beat at that. "Oh."

"Yeah", Kurt smirked. "Apparently you think that I'm 'totally nice to everyone'."

Blaine blushed and put one hand to his face to try and hide it. "I said that, didn't I?", he murmured meekly.

"Most definitely." Kurt chuckled. "You also tackle-hugged me, ruined my favorite sweater and told me my eyes were rrrrreally blue." Okay, so maybe Kurt was getting a little bit of revenge right now, but, who could blame him, really?

The pale boy couldn't quite stifle his laugh at Blaine's horrified face.

"I- I don't know what to say", the curly-haired boy eventually got out, his face now a bright crimson, eyes cast to the floor. "I don't know what I was thinking. I'm so sorry." Geez, he was starting to sound like a broken record.

Kurt just waved him off with a chuckle and patted Blaine's shoulder, internally cheering when the other boy let him instead of shying away again. "I really don't care, Blaine. You weren't exactly in control of yourself after all." When the other boy just nodded, still too embarrassed to look directly at Kurt, the pale boy decided to put his poor housemate out of his misery. "And I forgive you."

Blaine's head whipped around so fast that Kurt wondered how he hadn't just gotten whiplash. "What?"

Kurt shrugged. "Well, I already kind of forgave you yesterday, but since you don't remember I thought I should remind you aga-"

"Wa-wait!" Blaine cut him off with a quick hand-gesture, his eyes wide. "You- that's it? You'll just forgive me like that?"

Kurt cocked his head to one side, smiling slightly. "You regret it, don't you? That's enough for me. Over and done with."

He didn't say it out loud, but deep down Kurt knew that if it had been any other guy than Blaine he wouldn't have forgiven him so easily. He also knew that it was risky to just act like all of this was no biggie, but hey, the heart goes its own ways, right? Besides Kurt just really wanted Blaine to feel comfortable around him.

"O-okay", Blaine stuttered meekly, his mind not really wrapped around what just happened yet. Kurt forgave him. _Kurt fucking forgave him!_

"Yeah, so...", the pale boy spoke up after a few moments, pointing at the door. "I really should get going now. There's something I need to take care of."

Blaine's head was still spinning uncontrollably, so he barely registered what Kurt had said until he started walking towards the door. "Wait!"

The other boy turned back around, one eyebrow raised. "Yes?"

Blaine fiddled with his hands, his mouth opening and closing as he mentally grasped for something to say to express what he felt right now. In reality he had no idea why exactly he wanted Kurt to stay, he just really, really wanted-

But he couldn't ask that of Kurt.

"No, it's... it's nothing", he mumbled.

Kurt's eyes softened with concern. "Are you going to be okay with me going? I mean, your headache must be pretty nasty still. Or are you hungry? I could make you some soup?"

Honestly Blaine didn't even feel his headache anymore. "No, I'm fine, don't worry about it."

Kurt didn't look very convinced. "Okay, so... I'll go now."

Blaine smiled slightly. "Yeah."

"Right." Kurt nodded reluctantly and walked out the door with a soft "See you", closing it quietly behind him.

"Bye", Blaine murmured back and plopped back down onto his pillows the second Kurt was out of sight. He rubbed his face and turned so he could stare at the wall, once again lost in thought.

It seemed crazy after all that they went through (or more precisely, what Blaine had _put_ them through), but the only thing he'd really wanted to do just now... was to give Kurt a hug.

* * *

><p>"Hey", Kurt addressed the pile of boy huddled on his bed.<p>

"Hey", Puck replied and sat up. "Wow, you took less time than I thought. I was sure you'd be getting your mack on by now. Or do you two just not have stamina?"

"Noah", Kurt started, sitting down next to Puck on the edge of his bed. "Listen, I'm sorry about what I said the other day. I didn't mean to make it sound like I blame you for not being sure about your feelings for Finn. It was out of line."

Puck rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

Kurt looked up at him incredulously. "You're not mad at me?"

Puck scoffed. "Of course not. Look, I know it's hard for you to be in love with a stupid, homophobic moron." He held up a finger to stop Kurt – who had started spluttering indignantly at the word 'love' – from interrupting. "No, let me get this out. I _do_ know how hard it is. That's why I was so angry when you convinced the docs to let him stay because I just don't want to see you hurt." Puck still felt really uncomfortable talking about his feelings, but he knew that Kurt would appreciate him being honest for once. "I'm still not sure whether or not it was a good idea, but that shouldn't have been a reason to make _you_ feel bad about it. So it was basically my fault and no, I'm not mad."

"Thanks, Noah", Kurt said gratefully.

Puck nodded and clapped his hands together. "Okay", he said, leaning forward with a smirk. "Now tell me, what went down in there? And don't leave out the dirty details, I can handle gay shena-"

"We did _not_ have sex, Noah", Kurt cut him off with a tired sigh. "Would you please stop those stupid remarks? They're just crude!"

"Would you please stop dressing up? It's just part of who you are!", Puck retorted with a grin.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Fine, be that way."

"So, you didn't fuck. What did you do then?", Puck asked curiously.

"Just talking." Kurt decided to ignore Puck's snort that followed his sigh.

"Yeah, right. What about?"

"He apologized."

The speed at which Puck jumped up from the bed seriously couldn't be healthy. "He did? Holy mother of _fuck!_ Now that's some news!"

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "_'Holy mother of fuck'?_", he asked with a wrinkled nose at the less than bad wording.

"Well, what did you say?", Puck asked eagerly bouncing on his heels like a child about to buy ice-cream. Kurt smiled internally at his mental comparison.

"I forgave him", he answered quietly, immediately feeling like he should defend himself when Puck furrowed his brow. "Now I know what you're thinking, but it just felt like the right thing to do, okay? He was really upset and he must've felt bad about all of this for quite some time or he wouldn't have broken down like that when I helped him get to his room yesterday and-"

"Kurt, stop", Puck interrupted with a grin at Kurt's rambling. "It's fine. What's done is done, right? And besides, even though I still don't really trust Anderson I guess it's a good thing that you stopped the science-nerds from pulling him out."

Kurt let out a breath of relief and smiled at Puck gratefully. "Thanks, Noah. You know, I think that Blaine and I can actually make this work somehow. As friends."

Puck rolled his eyes at Kurt's obvious denial and just couldn't stop himself from commenting. "Well, at least the chance of gay shenanigans isn't completely out of the window now. Hurray."

Kurt fixed him with a half-assed glare, but still couldn't help but chuckle as he slapped Puck's arm. "That's really not the point, Noah."

"Maybe in your mind it isn't", Puck smirked and turned over onto his stomach, waving one hand at Kurt dismissively. "Now get out, I need my sleep. God knows I didn't get any with all of Anderson's barfing last night."

That evening Kurt passed Blaine's room with a smile on his face, looking forward to the next day for the first time ever since the experiment started.

* * *

><p><strong>So... I'm not really happy with how this chapter turned out, but I guess it'll do... Now I know that most of you want more Klaine action and I think you'll be happy to hear that now that they (kinda) sorted things out there will actually <em>be<em> some more development in their relationship, yey? :) Tell me what you thought of this chapter in a review if you have the time! Love y'all ;)**


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